Unravel
by annaliesegrace
Summary: Kono has been taken by Wo Fat in exchange for Shelburne. Last in the "Un" series.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Unravel

Author: Anna

Rating: Ehhh…K for themes probably.

Disclaimer: Not mine in this universe or any other (I've been on a Fringe kick as of late).

Summary: Kono has been taken by Wo Fat in exchange for Shelburne.

AN1: Ahhhh, readers, the final installment in the "Un" trilogy. This opening chapter is by far my favorite that I have ever written with the opening to Unseen as a close second. It will probably run 4-5 chapters depending on how it goes. I'd hoped to have it up sooner but the finale blew a hole in my plot and I had to re-plot for lack of a better term, but I think the story will end up better for it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review on the way out.

Oh, and there will be plenty o' swearing in this one…you are warned.

* * *

Chapter One - Breakdown

* * *

_So break me down if it makes you feel right  
And hate me now if it keeps you all right  
You can't break me down if it takes all your might  
Cause I'm so much more than meets the eye  
_Breakdown, Seether

Waking slowly, she became aware of two things, her head was absolutely pounding and her wrists and ankles were bound to each other.

Tightly.

With zip ties that cut into her skin at the slightest movement.

Blinking several times to clear her fuzzy vision Kono saw she was locked in a small room, minimal light coming through the cracks in the door around the frame. Her head felt muddled and lifting her arms took effort - she had been drugged, obviously to keep her out until they got to wherever the hell they were.

Concentrating as best she could, Kono took in the area around her. Small room, concrete walls and floor that she was sitting on and propped up against, respectively, with one door directly in front of her and one boarded up window too high for her to reach when standing. It was still night, she was pretty sure, since there was no light at all coming in around the plywood on the window.

"Fuck me," she hissed and tried to remember what exactly had happened.

_Pleased that she could hear the music out on the lanai, Kono thought maybe she should change to the classic rock channel before Steve got home. She gauged the heat of the grill before nodding to herself and started to turn to the house, but an arm came around her neck, squeezing tightly._

_Instinctively her hands came up and started scratching the arm, desperate for her attacker to let her go._

_It wasn't long before her vision started to blur and Kono intensified her effort to escape, thrashing about violently._

_She heard her attacker grunt when she gave him a half-hearted elbow to the rib and the next thing she knew he was swinging her head toward the doorframe. She felt shooting pain then everything went black._

Slowly she worked the zip ties around her ankles, they seemed to be looser and it hurt less to wiggle them, but stilled when she heard footsteps outside the door. Then it swung open and there was the imposing figure of Wo Fat was standing in the doorway, another larger man behind him.

"Ah, Officer, you are awake."

She remained silent and her abductor approached, shaking his head.

"Going to play that game, are we?" He asked and still she refused to talk even though every derogatory name she could think of was going through her head.

"Fine then," he said and pulled out a cell phone. "We are going to call your boyfriend and he's going to want to talk to you. I suggest you do so."

Kono stared at him angrily; she knew there was no use trying to deny her connection to Steve. The man had kidnapped her from his house. "Up yours."

"That's not very polite for such a lovely woman."

"What do you want?"

"I want Shelburne and your Commander is going to give them to me in exchange for your life."

She snorted. "No chance."

Fat took a quick step toward her, bending down and grasping her chin hard, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "McGarrett is well aware what I am capable of, Kono. And you will learn soon enough."

For a moment fear spiked through her, but Kono pushed it down; she could not give this man an inch. Steve rarely talked about North Korea but she knew that Wo Fat had killed Jenna Kaye in cold blood along with Steve's parents; she had little doubt about the cruelty he was capable of.

He stepped away and Kono spared a glance at the man standing behind Fat, he was over six feet, dark hair and eyes but a fair complexion, not a local for sure. The polo shirt he wore did little to contain his muscular arms.

And he was staring at her in a way that sent shivers up her spine.

Kono only returned her attention to Wo Fat when he uttered, "Commander" into the phone.

* * *

Steve didn't allow himself to wallow or panic, she didn't have time for that. He needed to take control of the situation, formulate a plan and get her back. Because not getting her back was simply not an option.

And if he started to think about it, really think about what was happening to her, Steve knew he would unravel right there. So instead he picked up his cell and made two calls he never thought he would have to, instructing the other Five-0 members to get to his house.

As he waited, Steve eyed the blood on the doorframe. He had to know. So he snagged the first aid kit kept under the kitchen sink and pulled out some gauze, taking a sample. Back in the kitchen he tossed the blood-soaked square into a zip lock and sat it on the counter. Now there was nothing to do but wait.

He took in the scene in front of him. She had been making dinner, probably dancing to that damn music, had gone out to start the grill and Wo Fat or one of his men had grabbed her off the lanai. The security system wouldn't have been on if she was home and her gun was…

Was where?

Steve moved to the other side of the kitchen and opened a drawer. Her 9 mm was there, where she always put it when they were home. The Kal Tec he had given her for graduation was upstairs in the nightstand.

Her cell was on the counter.

Her bag was in the entryway where it always was.

Her favorite board was propped up on the lanai next to his.

Her fucking car keys were hanging on the hook above the drawer with her gun. Next to his.

But she was not there. The most important piece was missing.

Steve felt his chest clench in pain at the thought that he may never see her alive again. That the last time he saw her was when she left the office that evening, waving to him through the glass windows of his office as he got ready for his meeting with the governor. She had been smiling and bouncy, moreso than usual; it had put a smile on his face. She did that to him, lightened his life, even Danny had commented how much more relaxed Steve had been the last couple months.

And the reason for that was gone. Just…gone. Taken by a man bent on revenge.

Just as he started to come apart a little at the seams the front door opened and he heard Danny yelling his name.

"Kitchen," he called back and resumed his SEAL persona, schooling his features into stone. He couldn't fall apart in front of them, they needed him to be strong, he was the leader and they would look to him.

"What's going on? You just said you needed me, at nine pm no less." Danny waved his arms around. "And then you used that blasted emergency word you insisted we have."

Steve remained silent, how was he supposed to say this? He wasn't sure he could.

Danny looked around curiously. "Where's Kono?"

"We need to wait for Chin," he pushed out.

Panic crossed the detective's face. "Steve, where the hell is Kono?"

"She's-" he started but was interrupted by Chin walking into the kitchen.

"What's up?"

Steve looked at the two men a moment before picking up the note and showing them. "When I got home Kono was gone and this note was next to her cell."

Chin blanched as much as his complexion would allow. "Wo Fat?" he asked, a tremor in his voice.

"No one else I can think of looking for Shelburne. He wants a trade. Kono for Shelburne."

"You sure?" Chin asked.

Steve picked up the zip lock bag. "There's blood on the lanai door frame. I'm going to have Charlie confirm it's hers, but it is. You know it is."

"Why isn't forensics here?" Danny asked.

"I haven't called them. We know who took her and knowing Fat he won't want HPD anywhere near this."

"Steve! There could be evidence here!" Danny exclaimed.

"We get HPD involved _at all _and we are risking her life, do you get that?" he practically shouted back at Danny. It was enough, though, to get the detective to back off.

"Ok, ok…" Danny said calmly. "I know you're stressed out man but let's not lose our cool. We'll find her."

Chin had been shockingly silent, his face blank. Steve took notice and guilt ate at him a little more. His baby cousin, the girl he had helped raise was kidnapped because of Steve. Anger flooded through him again, anger at himself, anger at Wo Fat, anger at everyone involved that it had come down to this. To the woman he loved being held hostage by a psychopath.

And finally he let it out, picking up the bottle of beer she had been drinking and tossing it across the room to shatter against the wall, leaving a trail of beer and broken glass that dripped to the floor.

It was then his phone rang, cutting through the silence in the room. Immediately Chin was on the phone with HPD, requesting a trace. Steve may not have wanted forensics there but there was no way in hell they weren't tracing the call.

Without picking it up, Steve answered, placing the call on speaker. "McGarrett," he said in a tone that was strong and no-nonsense.

Wo Fat's smooth, slick voice came through the speaker. "Commander. How nice to talk to you again."

Steve's voice cracked just a bit. "Can't say the same. Let's cut the bullshit, where is she?"

A clucking sound came through the phone. "Not so fast McGarrett, I'm offering a trade, Miss Kalakaua for Shelburne."

Steve bit his bottom lip and looked at the other men before speaking again. "How do I know she's alive?" It killed him to say it, because the alternative was too horrific to contemplate.

"Oh, she's alive, not very happy as you can imagine. But alive."

"Put her on the phone," he demanded.

Fat crouched in front of her and held out the phone, setting the speaker on.

She remained silent.

Anger flashed in the other man's eyes and he lashed out, slapping her hard across the cheek, the sound travelling through the phone to the men standing in Steve's kitchen. They all flinched, and the anger in Steve all but exploded, it took effort for him not to scream down the phone.

On the other end Kono tasted blood in her mouth from the split lip the slap had caused but otherwise didn't react, instead meeting Wo Fat's eyes directly, almost challenging him to try that again.

"This one is something else, McGarrett. Very feisty. _Very_ pretty…"

Her captor held out one hand as if to touch her, and Kono pulled as far back as the concrete would allow.

Steve's voice came through the phone, the fury clear as day, "Lay one hand on her and the next time I see you I'll be putting you six feet under."

The phone was held in her face again. "Talk," Fat demanded and the other man – she had mentally named him Brutus – stepped forward, clearly ready to take action if she continued to be uncooperative.

"Kono…" Steve's voice was desperate, pleading.

"I'm ok," she finally said and Wo Fat pulled the phone away.

"You have forty eight hours, McGarrett. After that all you'll get is her body back. And not necessarily in one piece. Oh, one more thing…contact HPD and I'll start sending pieces."

Then he snapped the phone closed before turning and marching out of the room, Brutus directly behind him.

Kono sagged against the wall.

Steve ended the call and looked to Chin who was shaking his head. "They didn't get it, it was a satellite phone, signal was bouncing all over the place."

Any relief he felt at hearing her voice was overshadowed by the incredibly small time window they had been allotted. Looking down at the phone, Steve had to resist sending it to the same fate as the beer bottle, smashed to a million pieces on the wall.

Instead he tossed it to the counter and scrubbed his face, he knew what his next move had to be but wasn't sure how much Joe would be willing to give up. The man had staunchly protected Shelburne's identity to the point of trying to convince Steve it had been his dead father. The SEAL hadn't believed his former mentor for a minute.

"Now what?" Danny asked.

"Now we get Shelburne," Steve replied.

Danny cocked his head at Steve. "I thought Shelburne was dead."

"That's what Joe wanted me to believe."

"But you don't."

"Not even a little."

"Soooo…" Danny drew out.

"So I have to convince Joe to sell out whoever Shelburne is to save Kono's life."

Chin nodded his agreement and Steve picked up the damn phone again, this time calling the one man who could bring this to an end.

* * *

_She was on the floor, as far from the door as she could get. Terrified and unsure what to do, how to handle this. Then the door opened again and she tried to curl into herself, make herself a smaller target. It didn't work._

_A foot came into contact with her shins, then her arms which were protecting her face. The blows were violent, bone crushingly so, but as of yet, nothing had actually broken. Physically at least._

_The assault stopped a moment and she thought he was leaving until his fingers wound through her hair, pulling her up to sitting. She let out a squeak of pain as he yanked._

"_What am I gonna do with you?" he asked, his eyes darting around the room. As if there was something there she couldn't see. This was not the man she knew, Ano was so far gone Kono wasn't sure there was a shred of him left in the person before her, abusing her._

"_I don't-" she started and he punched her with a closed fist right to the temple, which then sent her head slamming back to the wall and Kono saw stars._

"_Please stop," she begged. "What do you want?"_

"_What do I want? I want a girlfriend who stays with me, not leaves at the slightest whim. I want someone who obeys me!"_

_It was completely nonsensical and in that moment of true fear and terror Kono realized she was probably going to die in that room. She was hours away from curfew and anyone realizing she was missing. _

_If she was lucky they might find her body. _

_Oh God, Chin…he would fall to pieces._

_Chin._

_Steve._

Kono startled awake, a strangled "Steve" on her lips. Her heart was pounding in her ears and there was sweat on her back despite the cool concrete she was still somehow propped against.

She didn't know when she had fallen asleep; it could have been minutes or hours ago. In the small, dark (_familiar_) room she had no sense of time.

While the circumstances were similar, Kono was no longer a terrified seventeen-year-old. She was a capable member of 5-0. But this was no kid hopped up on drugs she was up against, it was a violent, unforgiving man who had her at a distinct disadvantage: she had no idea her location or how many of them there were. And she was restrained.

Kono allowed the fear to finally take over and dropped her head into her forearms that were propped on bent knees. And then she cried.

* * *

tbc


	2. All Around Me

First things first, THANK YOU for all the reviews (nearly twenty of them!) for chapter one, and of course the alerts. You guys have no idea how excited that makes me, I'm like a five year old at Christmas when I get reviews.

That said, I apologize for how long this took, I try to post every two weeks (or less) but work has been a nightmare I can't seem to wake up from and I have to try and cram 12 hours worth of work into about 9 hours. Which leaves very little time for writing since I have almost no time at home. Anyway, you guys have been so patient that I'm posting this despite the fact I haven't even really started chapter three (usually I'm writing a chapter ahead of what I post). Heh.

Anyway, please leave a review on the way out; they make my day you know.

* * *

Chapter Two - All Around Me

* * *

_I'm alive, I'm alive_

_I can feel you all around me  
Thickening the air Im breathing  
Holding onto what I'm feeling  
Savoring this heart that's healing  
_All Around Me, Flyleaf

Just as his patience was about to run out, and voicemail was about to pick up, Joe's voice came through the phone; the greeting a tentative, "Steve".

Steve got right to the point; Kono didn't have time for pleasantries. "Joe, Wo Fat kidnapped Kono and he's holding her in exchange for Shelburne. No more of the bullshit, man. I need to know where they are and I need to know now."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"God dammit Joe, he's got _Kono_. And I've got 48 hours to deliver Shelburne."

"Steve, you don't realize what you're asking for."

"Yes, I do. I'm asking for you to help me save her life." Steve's voice cracked on the last part of the sentence.

"Steve…"

"I don't have fucking time for this. Give me Shelburne, NOW."

"You don't want to do this, son. Trust me."

Now Steve cracked, his voice lowering almost to a whisper. "I don't have a choice. And I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I'm hoping we can use Shelburne to lure Wo Fat out without actually having to hand them over." Steve sighed. "_Please_, Joe. I can't lose her."

There was a long sigh on the other end and then, "Ok, Steve. Ok. I'll have Shelburne at your place tomorrow."

Relief flooded through Steve and the tension visibly deflated from the former SEALs body, his shoulders dropping forward, his previously ram-rod straight posture buckling under the release.

"Thank you," Steve whispered into the phone.

"Don't thank me yet, Steve. I'll see you in the morning."

Then the phone disconnected and Steve ended his side of the call, tossing the phone down to the counter again.

"Ok, so what's the plan?" Danny asked.

Chin looked between the two men, Danny so eager to help, to do _something_ and Steve clearly close to losing his mind. Chin ran closer to their boss' emotional state but was holding it in only marginally better, there was very little keeping him from cracking. While Chin was confident Fat wouldn't kill her before their time was up, that didn't preclude him from torturing her…or worse.

The silence continued until Steve finally spoke. "There isn't much we can do until Joe gets here. The trace was a bust and the call wasn't recorded so there's nothing to analyze…" Steve faltered, he couldn't say the words.

Chin did. "We get some rest tonight. But first I'm going to head into the office and grab some equipment to trace and record the next call. Maybe we can get something." The older man patted Steve on the back. "We'll get her back, man. It isn't an option not to. Back soon."

Steve just nodded and Chin headed out the door, taking the gauze with him. He had every intention of calling Charlie Fong and dragging him out of bed to analyze it. While his heart hoped the blood wasn't hers his head knew it was.

* * *

"Where do you want me?" Danny asked as the front door closed.

"You don't have to stay, man."

"Oh, but I am. So deal with it and tell me where to sleep or I'm making myself comfy on _your _bed."

Steve smiled at the attempt at levity. "Mary's old room. I even changed the sheets recently."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "You or Kono?"

"Kono," Steve admitted.

"That's what I thought. I'll take it." Then Danny turned serious. "Chin's right, we are getting her back. She's tough man, you know that."

Steve looked at his partner, his expression despondent. "I was going to ask her to move in, sell her place. The whole thing."

This was not a surprise to Danny; anyone could see how serious the two had become.

"Steve," Danny whispered. "She's alive, she's alive and that's how she is coming home where she will certainly foolishly move in with you and eventually produce little SEALs." Now he smiled, voice light. "Which, while the idea of more Steve McGarrett's running around this small island scares the hell out of me, if it makes you happy, it makes me happy…think positive man."

Steve nodded silently and took Danny to what was now the guest room (and thanks to said partner the vision of this as a baby room blinked through his mind, and despite the current situation the thought left a warm feeling hovering in his chest), making sure his partner was settled in before moving down the hall to the master.

He almost couldn't open the door, but after a long pause and a deep breath, did.

The sundress she had worn to the beach over his favorite red bikini was still on the floor along with the cotton shorts and tank top she slept in. It drove him crazy that she had a habit of just…dropping clothes and leaving them until they got around to laundry.

Her side of the bed was a mess of tossed about sheets and an askew pillow that most nights she wound up tossing to the floor anyway in favor of his shoulder or chest.

Hair ties littered her night table along with the last book she had been reading, a crime novel.

"_Don't you get enough crime in your day job?" he'd asked after seeing the front of the book. Kono was propped up against the headboard; Steve had just gotten into bed, lying next to her on his own pillow._

"_This is far more relaxing then my day job." She'd retorted and gone back to the book._

_His hand found its way to her exposed thigh under the sheets, fingers sliding up and down the smooth skin. "I can think of better ways to relax."_

_She ignored the hand on her leg and continued to read, not even sparing him a glance. "Well I would've had a beer, but you drank the last of it. And then didn't go to go the store to get more."_

_His hand moved up and under the cotton shorts, fingertips just grazing her center and Kono sucked in a breath as the book closed ever so slightly._

"_I could go now." His voice was deep, husky._

"_No, that's ok. You can go tomorrow."_

_His lips found their way to the underside of her jaw and the book (and beer) was forgotten._

_Oh, God_ - what if she never came back? What if all he was left with was hair ties and books and clothes that probably still smelled of her? Wo Fat had killed Jenna Kaye in cold blood right in front of him without much thought to it, not to mention his parents who had been taken from him by this man. Only Kono's perceived usefulness was keeping her alive right now. As soon as she was no longer useful Fat wouldn't hesitate to kill her as well, if for no other reason than to cause Steve unspeakable, continued, anguish.

The thought had Steve sitting heavily on the end of the bed, weighed down by the possibilities.

He couldn't be in this room, he couldn't smell her on the sheets and expect to stay sane so Steve walked out, closing the door behind him and returning to the kitchen where he stood, completely lost. There was nothing he could do, not a fucking thing, and it was making him crazy. There were no leads to chase, no calls to follow up on, there was…nothing. So he locked up the door to the lanai, turned off the kitchen light, set the house alarm and went to the living room, where he sat on the couch in the dark, staring into nothing, trying not to think about anything. Which was impossible, all he could think of was her. What was happening to her in that moment. How they had spent their last off weekend. About the future he wanted with her so badly it made his chest hurt with the possibility it might not happen.

It was maybe an hour later that the alarm for the house was disabled and the door opened, Chin had returned and was carrying two large duffle bags. Steve stood and grabbed one, dropping it in the living room next to the couch, which he then sat back down on. Chin silently took the single chair next to him.

"Got everything?" Steve asked.

"Hope so…anything new?"

"Radio silence. Danny is upstairs sleeping; you can use my room if you want to."

Chin shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. Probably won't sleep anyway."

"Me either," Steve sighed as he said the words. Then he looked at Chin who wore concern as bright as day on his face. "I'm so sorry."

The older man's face scrunched up. "For what?"

"Getting Kono caught up in my war, she was taken because of me."

"No, she wasn't." His voice was stern, forceful; it reminded Steve a lot of his father. "She was kidnapped because Wo Fat is a piece of shit who will do anything to get what he wants and has no regard for human life."

"That's what I'm afraid of, Chin. I'm terrified that whatever we do won't be enough and he'll kill her just because he can and he knows what it will do to us…to me."

Chin leaned forward in the chair, staring at Steve. "We won't let that happen."

"How am I supposed to stop it?" he asked and jumped up, pacing the small room. "She's God knows where having who knows what done to her and we are sitting on our asses wasting time!"

"Steve…"

"We should be out there, looking for her. Doing..." Doing what he couldn't figure out, he just felt so…useless. Which was something Steve McGarrett had never been his entire life.

"We are doing what we can, Steve. Once Shelburne is here we have leverage and then we can start to formulate a plan. He won't kill her yet."

"Yet…"

Chin stood and grasped Steve's shoulder, hard. "Stop thinking like that, it's not helping her at all. Right now we know she's alive and ok, focus on that. Tomorrow we organize a plan."

The words echoed what Danny had already told him and Steve knew the older man was right and was hurting as much, if not more than, him but it was hard, so hard not to think ahead – it was what the Navy trained him to do, plan, prepare, and think two steps ahead. In this case thinking two steps ahead was only providing him visions of burying the woman he loved.

Scrubbing his hands over his face Steve mumbled an "ok".

The men stared at each other a moment before Chin spoke again, "You know, I didn't think this thing between you two would last. I thought it would burn out."

Steve's eyebrows rose, he knew Chin had been initially cautious about their relationship but thought they had worked it out one night over beers.

_Steve opened the door to Chin's office and approached slowly, unsure exactly what it was he wanted to say. It had been nearly a month since he and Kono had slept together and felt a discussion with Chin was overdue to avoid any awkwardness in the office or their friendship. _

"_Hey man, what's up?"_ _Chin asked as he approached the desk._

_Steve paused a moment, still unsure. Then, "Wanna grab a beer?"_

_The lieutenant smiled at him in a way that said Chin knew why Steve was there. "Sure, gimme ten?"_

"_Usual place?"_

"_Sounds good, met you there."_

_Steve sat in the half empty bar – it was a Tuesday night after all – and picked at the label of his Longboard. Why did this feel like when he was a teenager and was meeting his girlfriend's father? Maybe because it was so much more than that, it was talking to his girlfriend's over-protective cousin who also happened to work with them and served as a surrogate for her for a good part of her life. And said cousin was someone Steve respected and his father trusted and respected. Chin Ho Kelly had a long relationship with the McGarrett family and he didn't want to screw that up over a personal relationship. Even if it was the best relationship he had been in. Probably ever._

_A strong hand slapped him on his back and Chin sat next to him at the bar, pointing at Steve's bottle when the bartender looked their way._

_They sat in silence until the beer arrived, at which point Chin cut to the chase as only he could. "So, you want to talk about Kono, I assume."_

"_Yeah, I just…" The normally confident, steady SEAL faltered before taking a breath and plowing forward. "Look, you and I haven't talked about me and Kono and I wanted to make sure we're good."_

_The other man seemed to consider that a moment. "It's serious, isn't it? That's why you wanted to talk all of a sudden."_

"_Yeah, man, it's serious."_

_Chin took a long drink of his beer. Who was he to come between them? Kono was an adult, long past needing his help with relationships, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her. This relationship was dangerous on a lot of levels. Her career could be sunk with the revelation she was sleeping with the boss but Chin thought that could be mitigated if need be. If their relationship tanked it could affect the team. So far they had been fastidious about keeping their personal relationship out of the office but they also had not run into any real challenges. But she seemed happy even if Chin thought this would burn out before it got too far (clearly he was wrong)._

"_You lookin for my blessing, Steve?" he finally asked._

"_Yeah, I guess I am."_

_Chin pointed his beer bottle at Steve, not really threatening, but making a point. "There are a lot of choices Kono's made that I haven't necessarily agreed with. You, however, are not one of them."_

_Steve fought a smile. "I'll take it."_

"_I won't bother giving you the 'if you hurt her' speech because I know you Steve. You don't hurt the ones you care about."_

"I love her, Chin. More than I thought possible."

He merely nodded. "Let's get some rest, I have a feeling it'll be the last chance we get for a while."

Steve nodded and leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes.

* * *

Blaring from outside woke Kono from a fitful sleep and she snapped her eyes open. Her tired mind managed to work out it was a ship, fairly large and rather close. Looking at the window she shimmied herself back to sitting (she had laid down as best she could on the hard concrete to sleep) and noted some sunlight coming through the small cracks around the plywood. Concentrating, she tried to make out any other noises that would give away her location but wherever she was had a variety of sounds none of which she could pick out and identify as most of the sound was muffled, indistinct.

But she was certainly at a dock somewhere, or close to one. Ships didn't get that close to the islands unless they were stopping. By the sound of the ship horn it was probably a cargo vessel, which left two likely harbors she was being held in, Kalaeloa Barber or Honolulu.

Before she could work more out the door opened and Brutus walked in holding a bottle of water and an apple. She eyed him as he left the items within her reach before walking back out the door, but not before giving her a long, appraising look. There was a glint in his eye that Kono had seen many times before from men who were interested in her. It sent chills down her back.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Hey! I'm gonna need to pee here soon!"

It occurred to her during the night that using the bathroom might be her only opportunity to get eyes on where she was and possibly plan an escape.

Brutus looked at her one more time before closing the door.

Damn.

* * *

_His nose itched, something soft was ticking it. Steve tried to break through the sleep that still lingered in his head but a heavy, warm feeling on his right side kept him sated and happy to be wherever he was. _

_Then the warm feeling let out a delicious sigh against his chest and tried to burrow even closer to him, a leg wrapping around one of his._

_A naked leg._

_Kono's leg._

_They had finally slept together the night before. And yeah, it was a little weird waking up with her in the bed. It was Kono. His friend, colleague. _Lover, _his brain reminded him. Not that he needed that much reminding; his muscles had that well-used, sore feeling that often accompanied vigorous, rather enjoyable, sex._

_Then fingers were dancing across his naked chest, taking in the well-defined muscle._

"_Whatcha thinking?" she asked in a not-so-sleepy tone. _

"_I'm thinking that it's weird waking up to you in my bed."_

_Her head pulled away from his chest and she regarded him with amusement. "Good weird or bad weird?"_

_His fingers ghosted across her back, causing goose bumps to spread across the skin. "Good, definitely good."_

_She smiled widely at him, her dimples on full display. "That's the right answer, McGarrett."_

_He took her in tousled hair, wide smile and dancing eyes and leaned in for a deep kiss. "Do I get a prize?"_

_She seemed to consider that before moving like lightening, suddenly straddling his hips. A devious smile crossed her face before she leaned over, kissing his chest. "The best kind…"_

Startled awake, it took Steve a minute to realize he was not in his bed with her but sitting upright on his couch, Chin dozing lightly in the chair next to him.

Scrubbing his face with his hands Steve sighed and pushed the dream from his mind. They would get her back and there would be many more mornings where she would wake up in his bed – hopefully for a long time to come.

Grabbing his phone, he confirmed no calls had been missed before getting up and walking into the kitchen, starting the coffee pot.

As he was debating exactly how many coffee grounds he would need for three people (Kono usually did it for him if it was more than just them for coffee) a cell phone rang from the other room and instantly he was in the doorway, watching Chin talk and nod.

Quietly the older man closed the phone and set it back on the table before looking up at Steve.

"That was Charlie."

_No. Please don't be hers._

"The blood was hers, Steve."

Even though he knew it had been, the confirmation sent stabbing pain through his chest. But he steeled his face and nodded.

"Ok, coffee is on." Then he looked up the stairs. "Who's going to get Danny?"

Before a game of "not it" could start the alarm was disarmed, which had Steve picking up his gun from its place on the coffee table and pointing it at the door as it opened to reveal Danny standing there with a bag and drink holder.

Immediately the Detective froze. "Whoa, Rambo. It's just me."

Steve scrunched his face up in annoyance and dropped the gun. "How did you get out of the house?"

Danny approached the two and dropped the food and beverages on the table. "I walked out the door."

"Which is alarmed."

Danny waved his hands back and forth. "Which I turned off in order to walk out the door. What part of this is confusing you exactly?"

"The part where you disarmed my alarm and walked out my front door twenty feet from my head and I didn't hear you."

Danny picked up one of the coffees and took a long drink. "Ahhh, so there's the problem. Super-ninja is disturbed that I got one over on him."

"Yeah, little bit there Danno." Steve smiled even in his annoyance. Having Danny around was actually a good thing; he brought little moments of lightness to an otherwise dark time.

"You'll get over it," he replied and slapped Steve on the back. "Got you coffee too, had a feeling Kono handled that part of the morning." Steve looked ready to dispute that but Danny continued. "I have never…not one time, seen you use the coffee maker in the office. Mostly you stare at it confused." The blonde clapped his hands, effectively dismissing the topic. "Ok, anything new?"

"Yeah, actually," Chin said, finally able to get a word in. "The blood was Kono's."

Danny nodded. "Not a surprise. Any other calls?"

"No."

The rest hung in the air, they were once again stuck until Joe arrived or Wo Fat called again and they could try and get something from the call. Frustration hung between the men.

* * *

It was challenging, but she had managed to drink some of the water and eat most of the apple that had been given to her. Initially she was concerned about being drugged, but recognized getting dehydrated and not eating would be far worse.

Again she focused on the noises outside. No voices, mostly machinery, cars and the sound of water lapping against metal. She was close to the water, even with the boarded up window she could practically smell the salt in the air.

She contemplated yelling for help, but there was no guarantee anyone would even hear her and it wasn't worth the retribution she would surely face.

It wasn't a minute after that the door opened again and Wo Fat came in with Brutus right behind him.

Kono remained silent.

"We're going to call your Commander and ensure he remains motivated."

Brutus then grabbed her viciously by the upper arm and yanked her to her feet, leaning her unsteadily against the concrete wall. Again his eyes roamed her body, this time lingering on her long legs exposed by the short shorts she was wearing. Brutus almost scared her more than Wo Fat. Almost.

Fat approached and dialed the phone, smiling almost gleefully as he did. The man was enjoying this; he was actually enjoying torturing them.

"Commander…"

Steve's phone rang as the clocked ticked past eleven am, he had been up nearly five hours so far, five hours spent pacing the floors of his house, imagining what was happening to her, angry at his inability to do something.

Quickly he snatched the device off the coffee table, waiting for Chin to indicate he was ready with recording and tracking before answering. "McGarrett."

"Commander…good morning to you."

"Fat, I'm assuming you didn't call just to exchange pleasantries."

A light chuckle came down the line. "Always to the point aren't you?"

"Lately I have been, yeah."

"I just wanted to keep you motivated in your efforts to procure Shelburne."

There was shuffling on the other end of the phone then her voice came across. "Steve."

Relief once again flooded him and he felt tears prick her eyes at the sound of her voice. "Kono…Kono, you ok?"

"I'm ok, the accommodations aren't great, little noisy." As the words left her mouth Brutus sent a hard right hook into her side and a grunt escaped her lips. It was enough to knock the wind out of her.

"Kono!" Steve yelled as she caught her breath.

"Ste-" she started but a blow to her jaw sent screaming pain through her head and she had to struggle just to stay upright.

"Kono!" he yelled again and there was more shuffling and the sound of flesh hitting flesh again before Wo Fats voice came through.

"Your girlfriend is learning a valuable lesson about trying to be sneaky."

"You are a dead man."

Steve spared a glance at Chin and Danny who were listening to the conversation through the computer, Chin looked nauseated while Danny wore this strange stoic expression.

Then there was a female, pained, scream, a distinct "no" and the line went dead.

tbc...

* * *

thank you again, hope you enjoyed...and I hope to get chapter three done shortly.


	3. World So Cold

Sigh…ok, folks, let's accept the fact that this will probably get updated every three weeks or so. This one got massively delayed because the company I work for is regulated by a government agency and said agency showed up three weeks ago for an audit. Ta-dah! They have since departed so I've got a bit more time. Two more chapters will probably wrap this bad boy up. Hopefully sooner than later.

Anyway, huge THANK YOU to those who took the time to review, they are always appreciated.

Let's not delay further…

* * *

_I feel like I'm numb  
Can't come to life  
I feel like I'm frozen in time_

_Livin in a world to so cold  
Wasting away  
Livin in a shell with no soul  
Since you've gone away_

World So Cold, Three Days Grace

* * *

Chapter Three: World So Cold

* * *

_Looking at the clock for the third time in nearly an hour Kono wondered if maybe she should get out of the truck and check on him. Not that she couldn't see him from her current vantage point; she could, clear as day. But she hadn't anticipated it taking nearly this long, Kono was worried._

_Just as her hand reached for the door handle he turned toward the truck and walked slowly back, staring into the distance as he did._

_Silently he climbed in, started the vehicle and pulled away. Kono wasn't sure how to approach this._

"_Thanks," she finally said as they drove out the cemetery gates._

"_For what?" he asked without turning toward her, both hands gripping the steering the wheel._

_She placed one hand on his forearm and squeezed, feeling the muscle under her fingers relax just a little bit. "For bringing me here, with you."_

"_You didn't get out of the truck."_

"_Because it looked like you needed some space, Steve."_

_He nodded in acceptance of her assessment and his rigid frame sagged just a little. "I did, thanks for coming. It's not so…depressing to visit them when there is someone waiting for me."_

_She returned the nod and considered the words, had he never brought Catherine? "How often do you come out here?"_

"_Once a month or so, depending on how much time I have."_

"_I'll come anytime you want me to."_

_He was silent for several moments before croaking out, "Ok."_

_She had gone twice more and the second time had actually gotten out of his truck and stood next to him as he talked to the headstones with his parents' names on them._

_All the while holding her hand tightly._

Kono was determined that hers was another grave that Steve McGarrett would not have to visit anytime in the near future. After the beating she had received for her attempt at leaving breadcrumbs, Kono was more determined to escape and not wait for Shelburne to have to come into play - if there even was a Shelburne. She knew Steve suspected Joe had been lying to him again, but there was a level of rationality in Joe's explanation that Shelburne was a construct of two men determined not to lose more loved ones.

Taking stock of her injuries, Kono deemed them not too severe; the worst of it was the cut on her arm and bruised ribs. The rest was mostly superficial, though painful. When Brutus had sliced a knife through the skin of her upper arm, leaving a three inch long gash, Kono had been unable to keep in a pained cry of "No".

Thankfully Wo Fat had cleaned and dressed the wound, apparently he didn't want her getting an infection and possibly dying on him sooner than he wanted. Which was a little disturbing if she thought too hard about it.

Though Kono was getting the sense that Wo Fat had no intention of letting her live one way or the other. Another tick on the side of attempted escape. Even if she was caught before she got out, Kono doubted (hoped) that Fat wouldn't kill her on the spot. Beat the shit out of her…sure. But it would probably be worth the try.

Again the door opened and Kono looked up to see Brutus carrying another bottle of water and something vaguely resembling a sandwich on a small plate. In the other hand looked like more gauze and medical tape.

Kono did not like the looks of this. Fat had applied the initial bandage a couple hours ago and while it was creepy as hell to have him that close to her, it was also very clinical, detached. Brutus kneeled next to her and (after putting down the plate), carefully pulled off the gauze and tape on her arm. He did it slowly, allowing his fingers to brush across her skin far more than necessary for what he was doing.

Kono tried to pull away, even a little, but he gripped her arm hard, preventing her from going far when pain shot up to her shoulder.

His large, calloused fingers grazed the skin around the cut before moving up toward her shoulder, continuing their path over the strap of her tank top and then up the side of her neck.

She snapped her head away and his fingers wound into her hair, pulling her back to him.

_He grabbed her by the hair, always the hair it seemed, and pulled her to her feet before kissing her brutally on the lips. Lips that had once been so loving and tender were hurting her, pushing so hard that one of Kono's teeth cut into the delicate skin inside her lip. She tasted blood._

_She cried out his name between the vicious kisses, "Ano…stop."_

"Get the hell away from me," she hissed and pulled away again as far as his grip would allow.

Then he did something that Kono wouldn't forget for the rest of her life and would be the source of many nightmares. He placed his nose into the crook of her neck and shoulder, inhaling her scent deeply before licking the skin of her neck slowly, almost reverently.

It was disgusting and vile and she had to swallow the vomit that worked its way up her throat.

"Get the fuck off me!" she screamed and tried to shimmy away from him.

His fingers gripped her hair tighter, causing her eyes to prick with tears at the pain. Then he breathed her in again before releasing her hair.

"You will be mine before this is all over. I guarantee you that, beautiful."

Before she could respond he pulled back and placed antibiotic ointment and a new bandage on her arm as if nothing had happened.

Kono, meanwhile, stared at him in horror with the realization that Wo Fat wasn't the worst thing in this building.

* * *

The clock ticked past two pm when the sound of a car pulling into his driveway had Steve jumping up from the huddle he had been in with Chin and Danny. They had been trying to sketch out something resembling a plan but without any information it was slow going.

Opening the front door he saw Joe step out of the SUV, and noted a figure in the back passenger seat. The windows were tinted and he couldn't get a good look at whoever it was.

His mentor approached and Steve spared him a glance. "Joe. That's Shelburne, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah it is Steve…careful what you wish for, son." Then Joe walked into the house and Steve moved toward the car, approaching slowly.

It was only as he closed the last fifteen feet on the vehicle that Steve realized the silhouette of what was clearly a woman was familiar. Vaguely so, but familiar nonetheless.

As he approached the door, Shelburne put down the window and he stopped dead in his tracks.

_No, no. It couldn't be. This wasn't happening. She was _DEAD.

Then he found his voice, "Mom?"

"Steven," the woman breathed and got of the car, quickly pulling him into a tight hug.

It took Steve several long seconds to wrap his arms around the small woman in front of him; he was in a state of shock. But when he did, it felt like he was seventeen again and hugging his Mom for what was the last time. She felt the same, she smelled the same. And for just a moment Steve's entire world shrunk to just this…him and his Mom embracing on the driveway.

"Steve," she breathed out again. "I'm so sorry…so sorry baby."

"Mom," he forced out, words and thought had left him as soon as she had pulled him into an embrace. "I don't…"

Finally she released him and for a moment they just stared at each other. Despite age and the stress of constantly moving for nearly twenty years, she looked exactly as he had remembered though with some new wrinkles and grey hairs.

"Steve….Rebecca? I think you should come in…" Joe's voice came from the porch where he had been standing.

That seemed to snap Steve out of the haze he had been in and he lead his mother into the house that she had last seen twenty years ago.

Rebecca paused as they stepped through the door and looked around, noting Danny and Chin but not immediately acknowledging them. "It looks the same."

"Dad wasn't much into decorating."

"Neither are you obviously."

Steve smiled a little and started to introduce her to his teammates but noticed she was staring at Chin.

"Chin Ho Kelly…is that you?" If Chin was surprised to see her it didn't show, he walked up and stuck out his hand, which Rebecca ignored, pulling the man into a hug. "I'd never forget you."

Danny, meanwhile, had put the pieces together and as Steve's Mom released Chin he stepped up and also held out a hand, which this time she accepted. "Detective Daniel Williams, I have the pleasure of working with your son. Mrs. McGarrett I presume?"

"Rebecca, please. Hello, Daniel."

"Danny, you can call me Danny."

She merely nodded and looked to Joe a second before turning back to Steve. "Joe didn't give me details, but insisted it was life or death that I return and it must be for him to break his self-imposed protocols. What's going on?"

Steve wasn't really sure where to start exactly. His mother knew nothing of his life or who he shared it with these days.

"Wo Fat is in Hawaii, Mom." He stopped; suddenly the enormity of the situation hit him like a semi-truck. He would have to offer his mother in exchange for Kono. No…that wasn't going to happen; they had to come up with something else. No way was he even putting his Mom in Wo Fat's sights again. Not to have her torn out of his life as quickly as she had reappeared.

"Steve?" she prodded and he realized he had been lost in thought.

"I just can't believe you're Shelburne."

"It was for everyone's protection, Steve. I survived the bomb but your father realized that Wo Fat wasn't going to give up. I know things, where the skeletons are buried, which is why he came after me. So your father and Joe created Shelburne in an effort to throw Fat off my trail. And I disappeared." She sighed. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by I haven't wondered if it was the wrong choice."

Joe sighed. "It had to be done Bec, you know that."

"You and John did. I did it to protect the kids." Her tone was short, irritated and Joe looked chastised for a moment.

"What do you know?"

"Another time Steve. I didn't come out of hiding for nothing. What is going on?"

"There's another member of our team, Kono. Wo Fat has her and is holding her hostage in exchange for you."

Something clicked in her head and she looked to Chin again. "Your cousin?"

Chin and Steve exchanged confused looks over Rebecca's shoulder. "Yes…How…"

Rebecca looked between the men as if they were daft. "You don't remember do you? She was here when she was maybe five years old for a retirement party we threw for John's partner." She looked to Chin. "The partner right before you Chin, you'd just been assigned to John and he insisted you come. When you mentioned your cousin, John told you bring her. She was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen, and practically stole the show from the guest of honor." Both the men both looked confused and maybe a little shocked at her recollection of a memory twenty one years ago. "I've been by myself a long time, nothing to do but think and remember."

Steve was stunned, there was something so odd knowing they had met (or at least seen each other) long before officially meeting. And still, he sort of recalled the party, but not her. "She was here…"

"I don't expect you would remember, Steve, you were nearly sixteen and busy with your own friends. But she did make a point of following you around on occasion."

"I remember," Chin said suddenly; it was a vague recollection at best, he had been to this house many times for BBQs and gatherings. But a one-off conversation with his cousin in the car came racing back to him. "I remember bringing her because her parents where…doing something and I agreed to watch her." Then he looked at Steve, almost sad. "After we left she talked about you in the car. I can't remember what she said exactly but she thought you were pretty cool. You must have talked to her."

Steve shook his head, nothing. He couldn't remember. But a lot of the memories right before his mom was apparently killed in a car accident were missing or hazy. And this party would have been eighteen months before.

Not that it really mattered, it was just…bizarre to find out he had met her, talked to her even and that when they met again years later on that beach he hadn't made the connection. It sent a little chill up his spine.

"So Wo Fat took her just to get to me?" Rebecca asked and looked at Steve, there was something on his face she recognized, but it took her by surprise. She stepped over to her son, laying a hand on his bicep. "How much does this girl mean to you, Steven?"

He choked back a sob. "Everything, Mom. Just…everything."

* * *

It was hot. Unbearably so. And stuffy, almost to the point of making it difficult to breathe.

Clearly it was early afternoon as the room she was in heated quickly with the harsh summertime sun beating down on the roof.

Every part of her was slicked with sweat. It was making the zip ties on her wrists that much more uncomfortable, rubbing the skin raw, blood was slowly seeping out from under the ties. The ones at her ankles were not as tight but she could feel them rubbing as well.

Another bottle of water had been brought to her earlier and she had drunk it quickly. Of course, the heat of the day and stuffiness of the room was making her thirsty again. And now she really did have to go to the bathroom.

But the idea of calling for Brutus and inviting more contact with the man made Kono's skin crawl. She would hold it.

Leaning her head back against the concrete wall she wondered how Steve was doing. She had to imagine he was going insane by now, though she was confident that Chin and Danny would support him as best they could. She had unwavering faith that he would do everything in his power to get her back, but she wasn't confident it would be enough. Wo Fat had it out for Steve and knew that his loved ones were the best way to torture the SEAL. Letting Brutus have his way with her before killing her and leaving her body would send Steve down a spiral she wasn't sure he could recover from.

She knew it.

Steve knew it.

And most dangerously, Wo Fat knew it.

As she was trying to shift into a more comfortable position, the door opened and Brutus walked in silently. His admiration of her body was becoming more obvious and prolonged each time they had contact and Kono was becoming truly scared of this man. This time his eyes lingered on her neck before dropping to the neckline of her dirty tank top.

She steeled her expression, giving him nothing. She knew how these men worked; terrifying their victims was part of the thrill for them.

He approached and leaned down, his fingers ghosting over her calves. She tried to retreat, jerking her legs back into her body, but he clamped down on her ankle, holding her steady as he pulled a knife from somewhere.

_No…it was too soon. It hadn't been 2 days yet._

Then he cut the ties at her ankles – she had to resist the urge to sigh in relief - and pulled her to her feet.

"You mentioned you had to go; so bathroom break, beautiful."

"I'm good," she said and tried to pull away.

"Don't be difficult. Let's go."

She debating fighting some more but quickly decided against it. The need to go to the bathroom was strong, as was the urge to get a look around the place she was being held. Maybe an opportunity would present itself. She had no chance locked in that room.

"Fine," she huffed and allowed him to lead her out.

He gripped her upper arm tighter, near her wound, causing pain to jump up to her shoulder. "No funny business or I'll put a bullet in your shoulder, you'll live but it'll hurt like hell."

She nodded; confident he would do it to prove a point.

As she stepped out of the small room, Kono did a quick glance around the large warehouse area she was now in. It looked like the building was in the middle of construction; two by fours littered the floor along with drywall and various pieces of construction equipment. Before she could look too hard, a gun was pressed between her shoulder blades.

"Right."

She followed his commands until they came to the bathroom, a small room with just a toilet and sink. She held up her wrists. "Gonna be hard to go like this."

"No chance, sweetheart. Figure it out."

She huffed but turned and walked into the room. Quickly, though awkwardly, she took care of business, but didn't flush; Kono needed all the time she could get outside that room.

Looking around, the bathroom was as non-descript as the room they held her in. No vents, no window. No way out.

She ran her hands and wrists under the water from the sink, taking time to rinse off some of the blood. The cool water felt good against her reddened skin.

Brutus banged on the door. "Get moving."

With one last look around she flushed and the door opened.

Brutus grabbed her arm again, but the gun seemed to have disappeared back to its spot in his waistband. Maybe this was her chance. There was a door maybe fifty yards from her location. And other than the two of them the warehouse seemed abandoned. Kono was confident she could make the door in ten seconds, fifteen at the most. And if her captor was incapacitated for even half that time her odds off making it out went up.

It was now or never.

Kono pretended to trip over something in the floor, bringing Brutus close enough that she made solid contact with his nose when snapping her head back violently into his face.

A half second after hearing the distinct sound of bones crushing and Brutus letting out an undignified wail of pain, the grip on her arm released and she bolted. Halfway to the door she started a zig zag pattern, shortly after that the first shot rang out, just missing her right shoulder. A loud curse came from behind her and another bullet zipped far to her left.

She could taste freedom.

Fifteen feet.

Ten.

Five.

She could taste the freedom.

As her fingertips just grazed the bar on the door a bullet whizzed by her head, entirely too close for comfort. Before she fully got pressure on the door it swung open – surprising her - to reveal Wo Fat standing on the other side, gun raised to her head. Kono came to a screeching halt and held her hands up in surrender.

"Extraordinarily bad idea, officer."

A rough hand grasped her shoulder and a gun was shoved hard under her ribs.

She was fucked.

* * *

_To be continued…._

* * *

Help? So apparently we can have fun little icons for our stories now. I'm clueless what programs work best for image capture and where I can go get images. Could someone (anyone) PM me some info to get me going in the right direction? Or is someone willing to make me a couple for the "Un" series and I will repay with a one shot fic topic of your choosing?

Side note: I saw Snow White and the Huntsman a couple weeks ago. Aside from Charlize Theron overacting like it was going out of style and a slow start I rather enjoyed the movie and the interesting twist it took. Enough that I might for the first time ever write for a movie.

Also, it came to my attention today with the announcement that Christine Lahiti was cast as McGarretts Mom that her name is...Doris. I had already written this without knowing her name and call her Rebecca. Usually I would change my fic to match canon, but I cant stand the name Doris with every fiber of my being (no offense to anyone named it). So in my world its Rebecca.


	4. Fine Again

Hello readers, let's keep it short this week since my absence was longer than anticipated. Thank You again to those who take the time to review, always appreciated, please continued.

This is the penultimate chapter, there will be just one more left and the "un" series will be history.

* * *

Chapter Four: Fine Again

* * *

_It seems like every day's the same_

_And I'm left to discover on my own_

_It seems like everything is gray_

_And there's no color to behold_

_They say it's over and I'm fine again, yeah_

_Try to stay sober feels like I'm dying here_

_And I am aware now of how_

_Everything's gonna be fine one day_

_Too late, Im in hell I am prepared now_

_Seems like everyone's gonna be fine_

_One day too late, just as well_

Seether, Fine Again

* * *

It was a gamble, and unfortunately, she had lost. Brutus' fingers were digging painfully into her shoulder, and the gun had not moved an inch while Wo Fat stared at her, clearly contemplating the options.

After what seemed like minutes, but was probably only seconds, Fat nodded at the other man and suddenly Kono's legs were kicked out from under her, dropping her painfully to the knees on the concrete floor.

She kept her eyes on Wo Fat, unrelenting in her commitment to show him no fear. Even though inside she was terrified that this was it, they would put a bullet in her head and she would never see her family or Steve again.

Steve. Oh, God. Never feel his arms around her, or his lips on hers. Never hear him mumble "love you" first thing in the morning again. The pain in her chest was unbearable and Kono couldn't help the tear that escaped, running down her cheek.

Still she stared at Wo Fat and made no attempt to wipe the tear away. Fuck him, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of breaking her.

Slowly he walked behind her and she could hear the men whispering, though she couldn't make out the words. But then Brutus' hand moved up her arm to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, where he applied pressure, partially cutting off her oxygen. She shuddered in a deep breath and he tightened his hold enough to make the point that one wrong move and he would strangle her.

"You're going to pay for that, bitch." His lips moved toward her ear and she cringed. "I cannot wait to get ahold of you…"

She remained silent, stoic.

Then she heard Wo Fat behind her, clearly on the phone, "McGarrett. I assume Lieutenant Kelly is with you?...Good, place the phone on speaker, please."

_No….no, no, no._

Fat did the same and she heard Steve's voice, "Done."

"Commander, Officer Kalakaua is about to get an important lesson and I felt it would benefit you as well."

"Don't touch her." Steve's voice was tight, angry.

Wo Fat continued as if Steve hadn't spoken, "I guess I shouldn't have been surprised…she's so much like you, Commander. But our guest here tried to escape, and now she is going to pay for it."

"No!" Steve yelled. "Whatever you are going to do, don't. I have Shelburne, I have them. Name the place and time."

For a moment Fat seemed to consider that and she heard him shuffle away before returning. Not being able to see was making the fear that much greater. But if she turned her head, she was sure Brutus would tighten his grip on her throat.

Again there was whispering and abruptly Brutus let go and stepped in front of her, his gun pointed at her head.

Her heart was pounding in her chest in fear; every nerve was on edge, waiting for something to happen. It was excruciating.

"Commander we will meet tomorrow morning, before dawn at the World War Two memorial, east side there is a maintenance area that is rarely traveled."

For one moment she thought nothing would happen - that Fat was using psychological warfare. Until she felt the air behind her move and pain radiated sharply from her left ankle.

Kono cried out and bent over, her still bound palms pressing into the concrete.

Then it happened again and this time she felt the bones in her ankle break under the strain of whatever Fat was assaulting her with.

She made a noise somewhere in between a sob and a cry and was vaguely aware of Steve screaming her name. Then it happened a third time and she screamed, really and truly screamed in agony and arched her back. The third strike with what she now realized was a two by four had done significant damage, if the throbbing radiating from her ankle was any indication.

Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now, she couldn't stop them if she wanted and Brutus kneeled in front of her, the gun gone – clearly she wasn't much of a threat anymore. When he grabbed her chin and lifted her head, Kono got a good look at the blood drying on his nose and upper lip and a part of her was satisfied she had at least caused him some pain as well.

She could still hear Steve yelling her name through the phone and then Fat spoke again, restating the time and place for the exchange before ending the call.

Kono was still on hands and knees on the floor, the idea of moving made her want to cry, the pain was on par with what she experienced after blowing out her knee.

At least back then she was met with immediate medical attention and painkillers, now she would have to suffer through at least 12 hours without anything. And she probably wouldn't even survive long enough to get relief.

Wo Fat leaned down next to her as well; his eyes boring into her, she couldn't hide the misery if she tried. "I think she gets the point, Ryan, please take her back to her room."

The feral grin that settled on Ryan's face had Kono's stomach clenching.

Then she was being yanked her up by her arms and cried out when her ankle shifted, and she was shoved against the nearest wall, his body pressed flush against hers. Kono hadn't realized until just then how big he was, taller than Steve and a solid thirty pounds heavier.

His large hand settled on the outer thigh of the leg without the broken ankle and ran up, touching every inch of skin he could find before stopping just below her breast. Kono's entire lower leg was throbbing and it was taking all the energy she had to merely keep herself upright against the wall instead of sagging against him so all she could manage was to push her hands between them and press against his chest in an attempt to get him off her. But his size and her injury meant her actions were futile and much like a mouse trying to fight against a tiger.

Again he leaned in to the juncture of her neck and shoulder and breathed in deeply before sinking his teeth into the soft skin, easily breaking through. She cried out again and wiggled under him but that only seemed to encourage her attacker and his hand moved the last few inches up, capturing her breast roughly in his hand. He squeezed hard and she closed her eyes against the feeling of him violating her in the worst of ways.

While kneading and pulling at her breast he made disturbing moaning noises that terrified her. The assault only lasted a few seconds before he released her, but not before running a thumb across her nipple as he licked his lips.

"Mmmm, you are so lucky I'm not allowed to have you…yet." He grinned again. "You're my reward."

Then he gripped her hair and Kono was having an increasingly hard time propping herself against the wall on one foot, her ankle was both stabbing and throbbing and every move she made sent pain shooting up her leg.

Brutus – Ryan – noticed her difficulty and pulled away. For just a moment the thought that she would have to _walk _back to her prison made her want to throw up. Then he effortlessly lifted her and slung her over his shoulder. She didn't resist, she couldn't, the pain was worse than before and Kono was confident she was going to pass out, which was the last thing she wanted to do while this man was around.

Despite her best efforts, the pain and blood rushing to her head finally combined and just as they walked through the door, darkness claimed her.

* * *

Steve stared at the cell phone a few seconds after the call ended, terror gripping his soul. Wo Fat was a good as dead; there would be no mercy for him. Finally he glanced up to see Chin looking vaguely sick and Danny concerned. Next to him his Mom looked horrified, Joe appeared unfazed.

"He's a dead man." Chin finally said, echoing Steve's thoughts.

Silence reigned again before Joe spoke. "Well, now we have a time and place…let's make a plan."

"Excuse me," Steve said suddenly and disappeared outside onto the lanai, the group watching him go.

As he felt the cool Hawaii air rush over him, Steve lost it and lashed out. The grill was his first victim, shoved into the house with a disturbing thunk and the entire thing rattled. Then a lounge chair sailed into the middle of the lawn, coming to rest on its side, cushion flung to the side. Another smaller chair followed and he was getting ready to go after the surfboards when a small hand landed on his shoulder.

"Steve," his mother's voice gave him pause and he pulled himself together, taking a deep breath. His heart was racing, anger and frustration fueling his actions.

"I've never heard her make that noise," he whispered and sunk to the ground, leaning against the back of the house next to the doorwall. "That…cry is going to stay with me the rest of my life, because I couldn't save her from it."

"It probably will, son, but tomorrow we have an opportunity to make up for it and save her from far worse."

Steve instantly picked up on the _we. _"You aren't going, Mom."

"I have to."

"No, you don't. I'm not going to lose you after getting you back."

Her hand rested on his bent knee. "It's really not your choice. And what do you think that bastard will do to her if you show up without Shelburne?"

"I can't…"

"You have to, Son." This time it was Joe who spoke, he was standing in the doorway, looking down on the pair. "Your Mother is right. She has to be there or we lose them."

"I-"

"We'll keep her protected."

Steve stood and got in the older man's face. "Like we protected my father? And Kono? So far the track record isn't so great, Joe."

"This time we have the advantage, Steve. We know he's coming."

* * *

_She looked down at the water and grinned, she was a solid fifty feet up from the surface. Steve was treading water below her, an equally huge grin on his face._

_It had been three weeks ago that she had jumped off the smaller cliff on their "date" and after that Steve had insisted that they come cliff diving. Today they finally had a mandatory day off and decided to do it. They had found a site that was away from the beaten path with few tourists. They had each already jumped once, and she was wondering how far she could push her luck. She had cliff dived from far higher than this, but never had she tried a triple somersault with so little room between her and the water._

_Standing on the platform, the wind whipping through her hair and smell of the water, Kono was confident she could do it. _

_Making eye contact with Steve she grinned and jumped, easily executing the turns but just barely righting herself before breaking the surface of the clear water headfirst. It had been tight._

_When she swam back up and looked around Steve was far closer than she expected his eyes wide._

"_That was close, Kono."_

_She grinned a little. "I know."_

_Steve shook his head and treaded to her, his hands resting on her hips. "You are something else."_

_She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You like it." And punctuated her words with a solid kiss on his lips._

"_You have no idea."_

_Deviously she loosely wrapped her legs around his waist and wiggled suggestively against his groin, pleased with his expected reaction. "Oh, I think I do."_

"_Kono Kalakaua, not behavior I would expect out of a member of the Five Oh task force." Despite his words, one hand slipped from her waist to cup her behind firmly, kneading._

"_What about from your girlfriend."_

"_Totally expected."_

_She feigned an offended expression but wiggled again. "Then I think you need to take her home."_

_Steve didn't even speak, instead turning her in embrace and breaking for shore. She quickly followed._

* * *

It was worse. The pain was worse as she came to. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced, excruciating.

She was lying on her side, her foot resting gently on the concrete floor. Slowly she lifted her head just a little.

There was absolutely no way for her to move to sitting without causing more pain

Giving in, Kono rested her head back on the concrete, curling herself ever so slightly into the fetal position. She thought of Steve again and how badly it would hurt him if she didn't make it, if he did end up burying her next to her parents. The thought was unbearable and while she was determined to get out alive, Kono also knew her odds were diminishing every second she was here.

Sighing she closed her eyes and used every technique she knew to ignore the pain.

None of them worked.

* * *

He was still propped up against the back wall of the house, his head had found its way into his hands a while back, sometime around the time his mother had gotten up and left him to his thoughts.

She was out there and in pain and there wasn't a fucking thing he could do about it.

Steve felt the rage start to boil in his blood again and it took every bit of self-control he had to not destroy something else.

Instead he would wait and vent his frustration on the man responsible.

Wo Fat.

Ways to make the man pay came to Steve one after another, as a former SEAL he could come up with some extremely painful ways to make a man die.

"Steve…" Chin's voice interrupted his thoughts. "We got something from the last call."

Instantly his head snapped up and he was off the ground and following Chin back into the kitchen where the older man's laptop was open.

"I went through the last call," he started and clicked a couple things on the computer. "And I picked up something in the background." Another couple clicks and Steve heard Wo Fat name the place and time for the exchange.

He shook his head. "I don't-"

"Right after 6 am, listen for it."

Again Chin played that section of the call and this time he heard it. "Is that?"

"Cargo vessel. Close to her…real close. Charlie could probably narrow it down to within a couple hundred yards."

"Do it." Steve watched as Chin emailed the sound and then got on the phone. The two men stared at each other while the phone rang. "There's only two harbors on Oahu that could handle a cargo vessel, Honolulu and Kalaeola Barbers."

Chin nodded his agreement as Charlie picked up and quickly he spouted off instructions what to do with the clip the tech had been sent. To his credit Charlie didn't ask a single question, merely taking direction and then promising to call back as soon as he could, it was clear he knew something had gone terribly wrong but was willing to wait it out.

Already Steve's mind had gone into SEAL prepare mode. There were two targets and they didn't know where she was exactly, both harbors were large, with multiple outbuildings.

"She said it was loud…" Steve mused aloud. "So they are keeping her in a fairly busy area, but probably in an unused building, maybe one under construction. They weren't worried about her screaming getting attention, so…soundproof? Or they just counted on the exterior noise to drown her out?"

As Steve was talking, Chin was pulling up both harbors on Google Maps, then he switched and got into the building department permits. "Assuming construction, there would have to be a permit pulled."

Quickly Steve stepped around the island and stood next to Chin, both scanning the screen. Each harbor had several buildings in some phase of construction.

"We have to hit both harbors at the same time to avoid being detected." Danny stated.

Steve nodded agreement. "No HPD though, I'm not dragging them into this." Then he looked to Joe and the older man nodded, grabbing his cell and stepping into the living room.

The same men who had traveled half a world to bring Steve back from Korea would be contacted again for yet another favor.

Steve looked to Chin and Danny. "We split up, me and Chin will take a team to Kalaeola Barbers, Danny you and Joe hit Honolulu with the rest."

Danny nodded and Steve felt lighter than he had in nearly two days. She was alive and they had a plan to get her back, well, they had the start of a plan anyway. But it was enough of a spark for him to really, truly believe she would be home soon.

It wasn't long before Joe returned and nodded. "We got eight; they'll meet us wherever we need them."

"Perfect, hopefully Charlie will get back to us soon."

Letting out a breath, Steve stepped into the living room for a minute and found his Mom sitting on the couch quietly, staring into space.

"I'm so sorry, Steve. All this because of something your father and I did twenty years ago. We thought faking my death would be the end of it, that Wo Fat would have no reason to come after our family again."

He sat on the table in front of her, pulling her small hands into his larger ones. "It's not your fault; the only person who is responsible for this is Wo Fat." As he said the words Steve finally accepted the truth in them, Chin had been right the only person at fault was the one holding Kono.

She smiled wanly at him, still clearly guilt ridden. "After all this-"

"When we have her back and Wo Fat is either rotting in jail or six feet under you and me and Mary are going to get together and have a long talk. We've got twenty years to catch up on."

She nodded. "Joe tried to keep me updated on you two. What you were doing, how your lives were. It's much better hearing it from you." Then tears started to fall freely down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry about your father, Steve. I wanted to be here, I _begged_ Joe to let me come but he wouldn't let me, and rightly so. I felt terrible I couldn't be here for you and Mary Anne."

Steve shook his head. "It's ok, Mom. Dad and Joe did it to protect us, I get that. I would do anything for the people I care about."

"You love this girl?"

"With everything. I can see a future with her, maybe get married, have some kids, grow old." His voice grew wistful as he spoke.

Rebecca smiled back and turned her hands in his, squeezing back. "I can't wait to meet her."

Chin's voice from the kitchen caught Steve's attention, it sounded like he was on the phone, and swiftly he stood, walking into the room, staring at the other man. It wasn't long before Chin nodded and gave his thanks to Charlie.

"That was fast," Danny commented.

Chin looked at him. "All he had to do was listen to the tape and I'm sure he figured out what's going on, brah."

"And?" Steve asked.

Chin pulled up Honolulu Harbor. "Charlie said she was no more than three hundred yards from the ship based on acoustics."

Now Steve was getting excited, finally something to work with. Chin pulled up the list of permits and quickly the two narrowed down three likely buildings at Honolulu and another two at Kalaeloa.

Consulting the time, Steve figured two hours to collect weapons and get out to the locations with time to spare to allow for unforeseen issues. It was now pushing ten PM, plenty of time.

"Joe, tell the guys to split into two teams of four and meet us at the entry of each harbor in two hours, we hit at midnight. Tell them to bring night vision and extra weapons."

Joe nodded and picked up his cell again.

The anger that Steve had felt was being pushed back in favor of determination to get her back and make Wo Fat pay dearly for taking her. A small smile crossed his face, Fat would regret this.

* * *

At midnight he was standing next to the first of the two buildings they had targeted. They were dressed all in black, goggles at the ready; the teams had no intention of turning on the lights if they didn't have to.

Using hand signals the group moved quickly and efficiently to the main door, which was quickly blown through. All was silent and based on the layer of dust covering everything in sight, it hadn't seen activity in a good long time.

Again Steve used hand signals and the group moved out and quietly onto the next building.

What they didn't see was a man watching them carefully.

Kono had just come to again when the door was flung open and Brutus strode in entirely too purposefully for her taste. As he got closer, Kono's apprehension grew; Brutus looked anxious, almost afraid but also angry, very angry. Not a good combination.

As he pulled out a knife, Kono tried to scramble away but with her wrists still zip tied together and ankle it was a futile effort. Easily he overtook her and pushed her back onto the cold concrete. Then he straddled her waist and she really started to struggle against him, wiggling despite the agony it caused.

"Stop….get off me," she screamed. Then, quieter, "Please."

Brutus leaned down toward her and she noted while the blood was gone from his nose, it sported dark purple bruising.

"I had really hoped to have some fun with you before we were done but events have forced our hands." Then he traced the knife down the skin of her neck and between her breasts before pulling it away from her body. One hand gripped her waist painfully, surely leaving bruises.

Suddenly there was yelling from the other room and Kono looked toward the door. As her attention pulled away, an intense pain radiated from her abdomen. It was far worse than her ankle, unlike anything she had experienced, both sharply focused on one area and radiating throughout her torso. It was agonizing and took her breath away.

And it took her several seconds to realize what had happened.

He'd stabbed her in the stomach.

Then he was slowly pulling the knife out and her eyes widened as the pain intensified for several long seconds until it was out. Instantly her bound hands went to her side and attempted to cover the gaping wound. It was useless, the blood was flowing between her fingers.

The pain was all consuming and Brutus was of little concern to her now, his nearly gleeful expression lost to her in a haze of unrelenting pain. Until he leaned over once again and whispered in her ear, "Such a waste of a beautiful woman." Then kissed her harshly on the lips; all she could do was lie there and let this vile man take his last pound from her.

_Fucking bastard. _

Then he stood and Kono watched in slow motion as he opened the door and stepped out. Already everything was getting fuzzy around the edges and she couldn't quite concentrate on anything except her abdomen and the feel of sticky, warm blood on her side and pooling under her back.

More yelling from the other room and gunfire for sure.

There was a distinct, familiar voice on the other side of that door. So close.

Steve.

As she tried to push her hands harder into her abdomen Kono realized he would probably be too late.

_To be continued…_

* * *

Hope your still with me, next chapter in the next two weeks probably.


	5. Enemies

Let's do a quick recap as to how we got here based on the dictionary (I have a thing about the meanings of words):

_Unseen (adj.): not seen; unperceived; unobserved; invisible._

_Unbridled (adj.): not controlled or restrained_

_Undone (adj.): brought to destruction or ruin._

_Unravel (verb): to take apart; undo; destroy_

I also grovel at your feet for taking so long; I really, honestly thought I could get this one out in two weeks. EPIC FAIL. Real life is a harsh mistress. So as a way of saying sorry…not only is this one extra-long, there will be another chapter (I make no guarantees when, I've got a family vacation coming up next week – so let's say before the premiere). The tone of where I'm going changes pretty dramatically from this chapter so I thought it best to break that out into its own last epilogue type chapter.

* * *

_Listen up there's not a moment spare_  
_It's quite a drop from the top so how ya feeling down there_  
_It's a cold, cruel, harsh reality_  
_Caught, stuck, here with your enemies_

_Who do you think you are_  
_Tearing us all apart_  
_Where did you think it could go_  
_Cause everyone already knows_  
_It's twenty to one and so you'd better run._

_You've got the world on its knees_  
_You've taken all that you please_  
_You want more, you want more_  
_But you'll get nothing from me_

_You're like the burden we bare_  
_You're all the hate that we share, you want more, you want more_  
_So you'll get nothing from me_  
_But Enemies_  
_Enemies_

Enemies, Shinedown

* * *

Chapter Five: Enemies

* * *

_The blood was hers; the blood that still stained his hands and circled the small bathroom sink as he scrubbed viciously at the skin was hers. He paused his scrubbing a moment and looked down, watching the red-tinged water as it slowly disappeared down the drain. Nausea rose quickly in him at the sight but he forced it down and continued washing, he had to get it off; he was desperate to get it off. And so he washed harder, working under his fingernails and in the nail beds where the red seemingly wouldn't fade. It taunted him there, a reminder of what had happened because of him. That everything that had happened in the last two day was because of him._

_And now her blood was on his hands._

_Literally._

* * *

This was it; deep down Steve _knew _this was the warehouse she was in. Silently the group of six made their way to the door, thankfully the front of the warehouse was windowless, and their approach would go undetected.

Again Steve used hand signals and the largest man of the group – Eric – stepped up and kicked in the door. Instantly the group was met with gunfire and they retreated back to behind some shipping containers that were maybe 20 yards from the door.

"They knew we were coming!" Steve hissed at Chin who had followed Steve behind the smallest of the containers.

"Seems that way. Now what?"

"Was there another way in? Emergency exit?"

Chin thought back to the plans. "Yeah, but I've got a better idea. Skylight. Drops right behind our friends here."

The gunfire had stopped at least, though Steve knew one move toward the building and it would start again.

"Any idea how many were in there?" he asked.

Chin raised one eyebrow. "Didn't really get a good look with all the bullets coming my way."

Steve sighed and looked over at the other men who were waiting instructions. Quickly he signed again and they nodded understanding, returning their attention to the still open (though empty) doorway. They would stay behind while Steve and Chin tried to access the skylight.

"We need to go up…" Steve mused and looked around. On the other side of the building, several cargo containers were stacked neatly, and high enough that they could easily access the roof.

He looked at Chin and the older man followed his gaze back to the containers, nodding slightly. Silently the two men broke off and quickly worked their way over, an occasional burst of gunfire erupting into the night.

"How long until someone notices that and calls HPD?" Chin asked.

"Not long, and if that happens who knows what they will do, so let's go."

It wasn't long before they were climbing the containers and dropping onto the roof, pausing as they did to ensure the sound went unnoticed. When no gunfire came their way they crept over to the large skylight and looked down, most of the men were positioned by the front door in clear view, but there was additional movement they couldn't quite make out in the other direction.

Steve carefully tapped the glass and determined one shot would take care of it.

Then he calculated the distance to the floor, it was at least fifteen feet, far too much to risk jumping and not breaking a leg. Thankfully he had been smart enough to grab some rope left behind on one of the containers they passed.

With Chin's help they secured the rope to an escape ladder and Steve grabbed the other end, wrapping it around his wrist, he couldn't risk tying himself and loosing time.

"Follow me down the rope once I'm in."

"Steve…" Chin started cautiously. He wasn't fond of this plan, not at all. It was dropping Steve into the hornets' nest.

"She doesn't have time for discussion, man. Once I'm in the team will know and move in. Just make sure you're behind me."

"I will be, brah."

Taking a deep breath, Steve fired one shot into the skylight and followed by jumping onto the glass, which easily shattered under his weight, dropping him down.

The surprise was enough for him to gain the upper hand and before he even hit the floor, had two of Fat's men on the ground, bullets lodged in their dead (or near dead) bodies. Shortly after releasing the rope and ducking behind a large post, Chin came down as well and Steve covered him with a burst of gunfire.

That's when the rest of the SEALs took advantage, returning to the door and pressing in. With the men occupied, Steve looked to Chin then the back of the warehouse and Chin nodded, the men slowly walked through the space, looking for any sign of Kono. As they were approaching a small hallway a large man appeared.

And what he was holding nearly sent Steve over the edge.

It was a large, blood-soaked knife. Blood was slowly dripping onto the floor from the tip.

And somehow he just _knew _that it was her's; that this man had done something to her.

* * *

The pain was white hot and intense and Kono couldn't breathe. And for a moment she wasn't sure where she was anymore, a small utility room or in a warehouse by the harbor. The memories of being held by Ano were mixing with reality, confusing the two. It all felt the same to her fuzzy mind.

She was also vaguely aware of a figure standing over her, just watching as she bled out. Her hands continued to press to her side, a sharp pain reminding her that this was real and the man in the room with her was Wo Fat, not Ano.

And still she kept flashing back, her oxygen-deprived brain putting the face of Ano on Wo Fat's body and it was terrifying her. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew it wasn't real but that didn't stop the fear from spiking through her, her heart racing. But there was still one thing that remained real and solid in her head.

"Steve…" she called out pitifully and Ano/Wo Fat smiled at her.

Then the man hunched next to her, fingers running through her hair - if she'd had the energy she would have pulled away - whispering, "He can't help you now…"

She let out a low moan as the pain in her side intensified and finally, blissfully, passed out.

* * *

"Freeze," Steve yelled and the man came to a stop, looking at him. He didn't appear concerned by their appearance, more…satisfied. "Chin?" Steve asked and the other man nodded, approaching the suspect, gun up and at the ready.

"Drop it!" he yelled and the man complied, the distinct "ting" of the blade hitting concrete echoing through the space, but kept his eyes on Steve, smiling at him like the cat that ate the canary. It sent chills up Steve's spine. Chin got near him and pulled out his handcuffs and this time he moved without being asked, placing his hands behind his back, allowing Chin to cuff him.

The man continued to stare at Steve – clearly knowing who he was – and spoke, "She was…delicious. I can see why you kept her around. So beautiful and feisty…I love them feisty. Makes it _so_ much better."

"Where is she?" Steve hissed, refusing to take the bait even as the words cut through him, and the reference to her in the past tense did not go unnoticed.

Now he remained silent. And Steve looked to Chin briefly before bringing the butt end of his gun down on the man's face. Instantly he dropped to the ground, unconscious and Chin quickly handcuffed him to a nearby pillar. He wasn't going anywhere.

In tandem they moved down the hall, three doors remained. Clearing the first and second easily Steve got a distinct sick feeling in his stomach as they approached the third, he knew she was there and probably gravely injured.

Taking a deep breath he nodded at Chin and raised his weapon – Wo Fat was still unaccounted for. The other man opened the door and stepped out of the way, allowing Steve to enter first.

What he saw sent ice through his veins. Wo Fat was standing over a prone, motionless Kono; he was just staring at her lying on the ground.

"Back off!" Steve yelled and Fat looked up at him.

"Commander. Your appearance here is unexpected I must say," he said but didn't move from standing over her. "And impressive. But you're too late."

"Back the F off!" he yelled again and moved closer to the pair only to see blood – a lot of it - pooling under her body.

_No…no, please God, no._

"I swear to God if you don't move I'll put a bullet in your head." That finally got the other man moving and he took two steps back allowing Steve to rush to Kono's side, confident that Chin would have a gun trained on his enemy.

He bent down, his fingers shakily made their way to her neck where he found a weak, thready pulse and relief flooded through him.

"She's alive…" he practically whispered and pulled out his cell, quickly calling 911 with a command of officer down and request for an ambulance. Then he pulled off his bulletproof vest and shirt – leaving him in just a tank top – pressing the shirt to the still bleeding wound in her side.

She let out a small moan as he pushed and her eyes fluttered open for just a moment; long enough to realize he was there and smile slightly. Then they closed again.

"Kono…" Steve said and looked down to see the blood was already seeping through the cotton of his shirt and would soon cover his hands. Then he looked up at Fat, who still stood by the wall, a small smile on his face, clearly pleased with himself. "You're going to pay for this, you asshole.

"Kono…" he whispered again.

"Ambulance is almost here…" Chin said and then Steve realized he could faintly hear the sirens approaching.

"Hang in there, baby."

She moaned again and forced her eyes open, locking on his. "Love you…" she mumbled.

Panic flared through him. "No! Kono…you cannot give up…stay with me. Please…"

"It's ok, Steve. It's…ok…" she was fading, and fast.

"Hang in there, the ambulance is here. Just…hang in there." Steve looked down and his hands were covered in red, he could feel the warmth of it on his skin, it was disturbing and he wanted nothing more than to pull his hands away, but he kept them firmly on her abdomen.

Chin had remained mostly silent; with one eye (and gun) trained on Wo Fat, the other on his cousin bleeding out on the floor. Then he heard feet scrambling and "over here, over here".

"In here!" he shouted and not even ten seconds later, two SEALs burst through the door followed by two paramedics with a stretcher.

After that everything moved so fast for Steve, he was pushed out of the way by the EMTs who started an IV line and applied an abdominal pad which seemed to slow the bleeding more than his shirt ever could. He watched almost detached as they attempted to stabilize her before moving her to the stretcher.

That's when he finally snapped out of it. "Where are you taking her?"

"Queens Medical." Then they were pushing her out the door while communicating with the hospital on their phones, any option to go with them cut off. "Female, mid-twenties, stab wound to the lower left quadrant. BP is 80 over 40, pulse 50. Significant blood loss at scene, at least one pint…"

The desperation to run to the car and follow was overwhelming, but one look at Wo Fat and his f-ing smug look keep Steve in place. Then anger and fury took over his limbs.

Steve spun on his heel and sent a fist crashing into Fat's abdomen. The other man doubled over and Steve came back with a punch to the face, snapping his head back. The man's entire body shifted back until he was leaning against the wall. Again Steve punched him in the stomach, then the face. That's when Fat slumped to the floor and Steve kicked him hard in the abdomen.

"Steve…stop!" Chin's voice pushed through the haze he had found himself in and the Commander paused, breathing hard. "Enough man, we need to follow her."

"Ok….ok" he said but before he turned to follow Chin and leave Fat in the custody of the SEALs he got in his enemies face and hissed, "If she dies nothing on this island will stop me from killing you. Nothing."

The ride to the hospital took ten minutes, but it was the longest ten minutes of his life. Most of the way he castigated himself for taking the time to vent anger and frustration on Wo Fat instead of following her immediately, though part of him was pleased at the expression of defeat on Fat's face as they walked out of that room.

"She's gonna be fine, man," Chin said as they closed in on the last mile to the hospital.

"I shouldn't have…we should have followed the ambulance."

"Doesn't matter now, we aren't far behind."

"It'll matter if we get there and she's dead!" He yelled then realized what he had said, and to whom he had said it and softened, "Sorry Chin, I'm just…"

"I get it, brah. No worries. I'm scared too."

By then they had pulled into the ER parking lot and ran toward the entrance. It didn't take long to find reception and the friendly looking woman behind it.

"Can I help-"

"Kono Kalakaua…she was just brought in…stab wound. Where is she?"

Despite being cut off the woman smiled at them. "She is in trauma one." They started to move but her voice stopped them. "Family can't go back there until the doctors are done with their assessment. Waiting room is over there, I'll let them know you are here and I promise someone will be out as soon as they can you let you know her condition."

Steve froze, now the desperation to see her was an ache in his chest. "Look, I'm Five-Oh, I really need…"

"Sir…no exceptions, I'm sorry. It's for the patients benefit if you wait out here and don't interfere."

The woman honestly looked apologetic and Steve nodded before heading toward the waiting room she had pointed out. Thankfully at that hour they were the only ones there.

Steve couldn't even sit, instead he paced the small area while Chin sat, head back on the wall, eyes closed, that ever-patient expression on his face. But Steve could see the worry lines, the concern etched into the small crevices.

After several minutes Chin leveled his head and looked at Steve a moment. "Hey, Boss? You might want to hit a bathroom…"

It took Steve a long moment to realize what he was talking about and then raised his hands to find them covered in drying, dark red blood. Something close to panic rose in him and without a word he rushed to the nearest bathroom, scrubbing his hands until they were raw but the blood was gone.

As he returned to the waiting room Steve heard her name called out and quickened his steps until he was standing next to Chin and all he could think was _please don't let her be dead._

"Kono is in critical but stable condition right now. We've got the external bleeding stopped and the surgeon is taking a look right now. She's in and out of it and will be heading up to surgery shortly but I can give you two minutes to see her before."

"Thank you," Chin said since Steve seemed lost in some kind of haze.

"One more thing, blood supply is short on the island and she is going to need more, is either of you her blood type…" The doctor looked down to consult his notes but Chin quickly answered.

"I am. I've donated for her before."

"Great, after you see her we'll get you down to donate."

Steve had been silent the entire time and Chin was starting to worry. Following the doctor back to the trauma area Chin spoke, "You ok, brah? You've been quiet."

"I almost lost her," Steve responded, his voice faraway and despondent. "Two more minutes and she could have bled out on that floor."

"But she didn't, she's alive and going to make it."

"I'm dangerous for her."

Chin pulled up short outside the small room the doctor had disappeared into, bringing Steve to a halt. "Get that idea out of your head right now, McGarrett. Life is dangerous for her. Being a cop is dangerous for her. You are good for her; you protect her at all costs. Don't worry about the what if's, enjoy the time you have together, it might be two years, it might be thirty. Either way don't let concern and paranoia destroy what you have. I learned the hard way not to push away the ones you love, it's not worth it man." Chin patted him on the back then, "Now come on."

Then he disappeared through the door as well and Steve was left marveling at how Chin cut to the chase and broke through his haze with a few simple sentences. Now he knew why his father liked the man so much.

The small smile that Chin had generated was quickly lost when he walked through the door and saw her lying on that small trauma bed, so pale and lifeless, an IV in one arm, monitors on her chest, a blood pressure cuff on the other arm and blood.

So much blood covered her abdomen, it splashed up onto her bra – her shirt was gone – and soaked the waistband of her shorts.

Keeping one eye on the doctor who seemed to be looking at her wound with a portable ultrasound machine, Steve moved to her head, stroking her hair softly a moment before the doctor acknowledged his and Chins arrival.

"The good news is no major arteries were cut, what's causing all the bleeding is a small nick to her spleen. Once we get in there we should be able to close it up and she'll be good as new. While we have her in the OR an orthopedist will come and assess her ankle and if whatever needs to be done will be taken care of at the same time so we don't have to put her under again."

Steve's eyes darted down to her leg, he had completely forgotten about the injury she had received while on the phone with him. Her left ankle was badly swollen and a disturbing shade of black, blue and purple. It was obviously shattered.

Hatred flowed through Steve, it would be so easy to pick up the phone and make a call, ensuring that Wo Fat wouldn't make it out of prison alive.

The doctor pushed on her abdomen with the transducer and she let out a low groan of pain.

"Kono," he whispered and bent down to her level, fingers stroking through her hair. "It's ok, you're going to be ok."

For a moment she blinked her eyes open and smiled. "Steve…" It came out slightly slurred but it was the sweetest sound he'd heard in days.

That's when the ER doctor came back and whispered to the surgeon, who looked at the two men. "The ER is prepped, we need to move her."

"They are taking you up for surgery, baby, I'll be waiting for you, ok? Hang in there…"

"K…" she drew out and smiled again even as they collected her various IV bags and monitors and pushed her out into the hall.

Once again, he was watching her go.

* * *

Voices. That was the first thing she was aware of, an unknown female voice and a familiar male one, she couldn't make out words, just…talking. Somewhere in the back of her brain she recognized where she was, a hospital, but for the life of her she couldn't recall why. For a moment she felt panic but it was quickly washed away by the sedative effects of the anesthetic.

As much as she wanted to open her eyes, the warm, comforting darkness pulled her under before she could give it much effort.

* * *

There was something warm and heavy on her hand, lying across it. The voices were gone, but this time she was able to crack her eyes open, only to slam them shut at the bright lights around her. And beeping, there was a lot of beeping.

Forcing her eyes open again, she found herself staring up at the ceiling. For a moment she took stock, her throat was sore and rough and there was a dull pain from her side and ankle.

Carefully she turned her head to find Steve curled into a chair next to her bed, a fleece blanket tossed haphazardly across his long body, one hand sticking out and lying over hers, explaining the heavy feeling there.

She still couldn't seem to capture the memory of why she was here. There was something…

Then it hit her like a truck…Wo Fat and Brutus and oh…

'Steve," she croaked out and instantly he was sitting up, looking at her.

"Baby," he breathed out and leaned in toward her, pressing the nurse call button simultaneously. "You're gonna be ok…relax. Don't talk yet."

She just nodded and swallowed painfully, her eyes capturing his. He looked so…distraught.

Trying again she only got out "St-" before her voice gave out.

"Shhhh…" he whispered and got even closer, nuzzling her nose with his. That's when he noticed the bite mark on her neck, it had clearly been cleaned and there was some kind of antiseptic cream on it, but was still red and inflamed. Horrified he pulled away and looked at her – he could think of only one reason she would have a bite mark but dark eyes revealed nothing to him. "Kono…what did they do?"

"Don't," she squeaked out and shook her head.

His heart starting pounding in his chest. "Did they…" he couldn't finish it, he couldn't comprehend it, but the man they had arrested holding the knife – his words at the warehouse suddenly had disturbing context.

"No…" It was sharp and harsh. Which told Steve that something else had gone on, but now was not the time to push.

That was the moment the nurse came in and Steve reluctantly pulled away while the blonde quickly checked Kono's vitals. "Good morning Kono, I'm Claire; I'll be your nurse until 7 tonight. Throat hurt?"

Instantly she liked this nurse, her tone was not sticky sweet (she'd had her fill of those after her surfing accident) but conversational and she nodded vigorously. Claire turned to Steve, "She can have ice chips; they are in the machine at the end of the hall. No limit."

Then to Kono again, "Can you rate your pain on a one to ten scale for me? Use your fingers."

Kono considered that, her tolerance for pain was pretty high, always had been, that said the ache in her side was already morphing from dull to sharp and knew it wouldn't be long before she hit unbearable. So she indicated "7" with her fingers.

"Ok, I'll get the doc in here and see what we can give you."

She nodded and Steve gently squeezed her hand, "I'll get ice chips and let the guys know you are ok."

Again she nodded, but more slowly, the little effort she had put in was already making her tired.

* * *

She must have fallen asleep because Kono found herself startling back awake to find the entire team plus Joe in her room, quietly talking. And she realized the pain she had felt earlier was gone, the doctor must have come and gone while she slept. For a moment she watched the men in their huddle, smiling at her ohana who had found her in the middle of a fucking harbor. One day she would ask how that happened; right now she was just happy to see them.

It was Chin who noticed she was awake first, "Cousin…hey, how ya feeling?"

Steve was instantly at her side, handing her a cup filled with ice chips – he knew better than to attempt to feed her.

With surprising ease she picked one up and put it in her mouth, and sadly, it was the most delicious thing she had eaten in a while, the coolness and melting water soothed her throat enough that she could talk.

"Like I got the crap kicked out of me…" There was silence and she ate another ice chip. "Fat?" she asked.

"Locked up along with his buddy."

"Good."

It was said in a similar harsh tone she took earlier and Steve placed a hand at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, fingers kneading the muscles and he felt her instantly relax under his touch.

The team visited a while longer until Claire returned and politely kicked them all (minus Steve) out of the room, insisting that she needed rest and they could return tomorrow.

There was much grumbling but each man came over and kissed her on the cheek while saying goodbye. Chin mentioned Malia would be coming to visit her as soon as she got off shift and again she nodded, at that point the short twenty minute visit had drained her of everything she had.

Once there was silence Steve perched himself on the bed next to her, his face grim.

"Really, how are you?"

"Better than I was. You found me."

"Always," he muttered and carefully picked up her hand, kissing the palm. "I thought I lost you."

"You didn't."

"It was so close, Kono, so close..." his voice faltered at the end.

She shook her head and looked at him, he was falling apart in front of her, Steve McGarrett the super SEAL was nearly breaking into pieces in front of her.

So she squeezed his hand. "I am here. And I'll be ok. Please don't do this to yourself…please."

He nodded. "I'll try, love you, Kono."

"Love you, too, Steve."

That's when he realized that she didn't know they had Shelburne and who Shelburne was and he smiled slightly.

"You up for a story?" he asked.

"What kind?"

"The kind where we find Shelburne."

Her eyes widened, now she was awake. "Oh, yeah."

* * *

A week later she was packing up the small bag that Steve had brought to the hospital. Her wounds were mostly healed; though she would be off work another two weeks and on desk duty until the cast came off her ankle in eight. It sucked, but she was finally leaving.

With a triumphant smile Steve came into her room, waving her discharge papers and a bag from the hospital pharmacy filled with goodies to ease the pain she was still in. Quickly he stuffed them into the bag and started to pick it up before seemingly considering something and setting it back down. Kono looked at him confused and he just smiled widely at her.

_Standing in the doorway of the guest room his mother had been occupying (he'd tried to get her to take the master but she'd refused), Steve allowed his mind to wander to the night that Danny had stayed here and put the idea of babies into his head. _

_While with Catherine, kids had never entered his thoughts, the two of them weren't in the same place 90% of the year and the relationship, while long term, was never all that serious. But with Kono all but moved in there was a sense of permanence, of real family. A feeling Steve hadn't had in a very long time._

_And yeah, maybe kids were part of that family. Not that they'd discussed it…exactly. But Steve was good with Gracie and Kono liked kids, she had been around plenty in her family. They had each made comments that could lead the other to assume kids were an eventuality, but there was so much to do before. _

_Like get her out of the hospital and moved into his place permanently and…_

"_Steve?" his mother's voice pulling him from his thoughts._

"_Yeah?" _

_Rebecca joined him in the doorway and also stared into the room. "I remember when this was your room and covered in dinosaurs."_

_He laughed. "I remember that phase."_

"_So do I…I also remember the phase of you digging up the backyard looking for dinosaur bones you were convinced where there."_

_Steve laughed harder, "Dad was so mad. Made me fill in the holes."_

"_But then he got you that huge model, remember? It sat in the corner of your room for years, even after you changed to football trophies."_

"_I remember taking a whole weekend to assemble that thing."_

_They lapsed into silence for a few moments until Rebecca spoke again, "When do you have to pick her up?"_

"_Two hours." The relief was evident in his voice, he needed her back here where he could keep an eye on her himself. And she belonged here, in this house, now._

_After Kono'd found out who Shelburne was she insisted that Steve bring his Mom to the hospital so they could meet. Initially Steve had balked at that, but Kono had pointed out it would be incredibly awkward for them all if the two women were to meet for the first time when Kono returned to a home that she considered hers, but had originally been Rebecca's. Eventually he had relented and Rebecca had spent nearly three hours with Kono, just talking. _

"_She's a wonderful girl, Steve. I think your father would have liked her."_

_He nearly snorted at her speaking the words he had said to Kono not so long ago at Chin's wedding. "Me too…"_

_Silence reigned, with Steve still staring into the tidy room._

_Maybe one day a dinosaur would take up residence in the corner again._

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"Sit for a second."

She complied and managed to sit on the edge of the bed, but continued to eye him warily, this behavior was very un-Steve-like. In the past week he had been hovering over her, making sure she had everything she needed, at one point she'd been forced to snap at him to stop. Hell, she'd expected him to bring up the bite mark again, but blissfully he had seemed to forget about it. Seemed to…she knew it was coming, he was just waiting until more time had passed to bring it up again. She knew how his mind worked.

He cleared his throat and for a minute Kono would have sworn he looked _nervous. _"Look…we've been through a lot lately…more than most. And I know it hasn't been that long that we've been together but it feels like forever and you practically live at my house and…"

"Steve…" her tone held a vague warning in it so he rushed to the end.

"Marry me."

* * *

So yeah, Chapter Six, coming up! Thank you so much for the reviews, please don't forget to leave one on the way out.


	6. Breathe

Well, readers, we are officially at the end of the journey that started with a one or two shot about how crappy the writers portrayed Steve/Kono when she was on probation at the beginning of _last _season. That little idea turned into a trilogy and a half (Unbridled being the half) that is finally coming to its conclusion here. This chapter came out far longer than I anticipated (and hey, I posted with a week to spare, look at me go!), I think I had a hard time letting go of this honestly, and is mostly hopeless fluff with a little adult action in the middle there.

THANK YOU to all who have read/favorite the "Un" series and special, giant THANKS to those who took the time to review along the way, they are always appreciated and I love reading them. And they are especially welcome at the end here so I know you enjoyed how I decided to end this.

Unravel (_verb_): to free from complication or difficulty; make plain or clear; solve_._

And with that…the end…

* * *

I can feel the magic floating in the air

Being with you gets me that way

I watch the sunlight dance across your face and I've

Never been this swept away

All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze

When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms

The whole world just fades away

The only thing I hear is the beating of your heart

Cause I can feel you breathe

It's washing over me

Suddenly I'm melting into you

There's nothing left to prove

Baby all we need is just to be

Caught up in the touch

The slow and steady rush

Baby isn't that how love's supposed to be

I can feel you breathe

Just breathe

_Breathe, Faith Hill_

* * *

Chapter Six - Breathe

* * *

April 2015

Warm arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her body back into a broad, familiar chest. She had been staring at the sun setting over the ocean, it never ceased to amaze her how beautiful it was.

"You ok?" he asked and she nodded, turning her head just enough to kiss him.

"Long day," she muttered and dropped her head back to his shoulder.

"Yeah, and it's not over yet."

"Don't remind me."

He snorted, actually snorted. "Well, it took us so long to get here, it feels like we are being punished or something."

Now she laughed, "Not my fault."

He spun her in his arms, his expression incredulous. "Totally your fault…"

* * *

_August 2013_

"_Look…we've been through a lot lately…more than most. And I know it hasn't been that long that we've been together but it feels like forever and you practically live at my house and…"_

"_Steve…" her tone held a vague warning in it so he rushed to the end._

"_Marry me."_

_Her response was an instantaneous, "No."_

_He looked surprised. "No?"_

"_No."_

_His eyes narrowed and Kono could see his mind trying to work out exactly how this had gone wrong._

"_I don't…why?"_

"_It's not the right time." She smiled and got up from the bed, wobbling a little before placing her hands on either side of his face. "I love you very much and maybe, someday, I'll say yes if you ask again, but right now the answer is no."_

_Then she leaned up and kissed him gently, with as much emotion and longing as she could. "Now, can we go home?"_

"_Yeah, of course," he said and picked up the bag again, following her slowly, still a little confused by her refusal._

* * *

"Not my fault that was the worst proposal in history. I'm pretty sure while being released from the hospital after being held hostage by your boyfriends lifelong enemy and oh, without a ring, is not what every girl hopes for."

"Well, yeah. Not one of my finer moments."

She smiled again and turned, wrapping her arms around his neck, reaching up to kiss him gently. "Neither was the second time."

"Oh, come on," he sighed, annoyed but a small smile played behind it as he pulled her close. His second "proposal" was an ongoing joke between them now. "Still with this?"

"Forever, babe."

* * *

_May 2014_

_They had been looking for Kai Arano for nearly a week; the man was a ghost who would random pop up and then just as quickly disappear. It was driving the team insane, but no one more so than Steve. Arano was wanted for assault, battery and attempted murder of an ex-girlfriend who was under protective custody until he was found._

_Just as they were at their wits end a tip came in that Arano was going to be at an underground fight, very underground. Limited invite list but their tipster (whom they all suspected to be a rival of Arano's in the drug game) could get one, and only one, of them in._

_Which had, of course, instigated a fight between Danny and Stev. Steve insisting he should go and Danny pointing out that while Steve was a local, he was certainly NOT Hawaiian and therefore would stick out like a sore thumb. Add to that it was fairly well known that he was the head of 5-0 and Steve was quickly eliminated (as he usually was for undercover assignments), as was Danny for even more obvious reasons._

_Chin and Kono had watched the argument with amusement until Kono finally broke in with a simple, "I'll go."_

_The "no" was on the tip of Steve's tongue, but he held it back. If anyone was going to get close enough to get their guy, it would be her. All she needed to do was get him to a quiet area where the team would swoop in and arrest him. They were after Kai, no one else at that point, so making a bigger bust at the fight (and possibly losing their guy in the melee) was not an option._

"_Yeah, ok. Get him outside where we can grab him."_

_She nodded and quickly they formulated a plan and Kono took off to get dressed, she had just less than two hours to get ready._

_An hour later she returned to the office dressed to the nines. Danny had stared at her far longer than he should have and received a smack from Steve and a nasty look from Chin._

"_Well, if you don't get his attention the man is either dead or gay," Danny said, earning him another whack from the team leader. "What?" he exclaimed, hands failing in her direction. "She will!"_

_Suddenly Kono felt self-conscious in the very small, very tight burgundy mini-dress. Mini being the operative word. _

_Steve eyed her up and down, Danny wasn't exactly wrong with his assessment. The dress hugged her body, accentuating the curves she had, and stopped just below her behind, one wrong move and the whole place would get quite a show. The front was low cut, stopping just between her breasts and the back was non-existent since it was a halter style. Add the 4 inch black stilettos, heavy makeup and dear God, the thoughts running through Steve's head were borderline obscene._

"_Let's go…" he finally grumbled and off they went, Kono in a brand new Caddy that had been seized by narcotics the previous week._

_It had taken all of forty-five minutes before their mark was all over her, buying her drinks and hanging on her every word. Kono played the perfect party girl out for a good time, touching his arm or chest, flipping her hair, smiling at stupid jokes. _

_In the van parked two blocks away the team heard it all through the very small microphone that was in a teardrop necklace she wore. Steve was clearly not pleased, but holding it in. This was part of her job as the only female on the team, but it was the first time she'd had to go in after her abduction by Wo Fat._

"_Wanna go get some air?" she asked Kai seductively while she dragged one finger across his chest, his "yes" was immediate._

_Instantly the team was firing up the van, they had already determined where Kono would lead him._

_Quietly she led Kai to the side of the building, far enough away from the entrance that hopefully no one would get wind of the takedown. It wasn't two seconds after they stopped that he had her pushed up against the siding, his hands roaming over her body, lips on hers, demanding._

_Kono thought she would have a harder time with this, but the circumstances were far different than they were six months ago. Here she was a willing (to a point) participant, then it was forced upon her._

_So for a minute she played along, and then she heard Steve's harsh, commanding, voice. "Five-Oh…freeze."_

_Kai looked at him, then back at her and Kono smiled. Then Kai pulled a knife from nowhere Kono could discern and tried to pull her to him, but clearly he had underestimated his prey because she struck back before he could get any leverage, kicking him in the lower back and he tumbled forward. One more kick to the side and he was down, the knife clattering out of his hand onto the ground. _

_Instantly the team was on them, Danny cuffing the man who was still moaning. She had kicked him right in the kidney, painful but not dangerous. Steve stood next to her, admiring the work._

"_Nice kick," he said._

_The second after Steve slammed the front door and locked it he was all over her, pushing her back against the nearest wall. Vaguely he was aware of pictures rattling but didn't care much as his hand made contact with her outside thigh and slid up, taking the material of the dress with it._

_She had left the dress on. _

_They had booked Arano at HPD and did a quick debrief in the office and the whole time she kept the damn dress on. It was intentional, he knew because she had a spare set of clothes in her office, he even gave her time to change but she declined. And the entire meeting he kept getting distracted by long, tanned, _exposed _legs. Legs that she would cross and re-cross whenever he looked at her._

_Needless to say it was the fastest debrief in 5-O history and they were speeding toward his place in record time._

_Fingers gripped his t-shirt while her lips battled with his, tongues clashing with primal intensity. And when his hand moved up he was nearly undone by the feel of her bare ass – when exactly had she removed her underwear? _

_When he kneaded the flesh she let out a low, throaty moan and dropped her head back to the wall, her eyes flittering closed._

_With one hand still firmly on her behind, he wrapped the fingers of the other through her hair and pulled gently, exposing her neck to him. Slowly he licked and kissed the skin under her jaw before moving to her shoulder._

_As he always did when they were intimate, almost as a reminder to himself of how far they had come and how close he'd come to losing her, Steve gently, reverently kissed the skin where there was a fading bite mark scar._

_While he did that, her fingers wound their way into his hair, nails gently scraping his scalp, her reminder that she was there in front of him and not to get lost in the past._

_It wasn't long before his lips were back on hers, tongue demanding entrance and the hand that had been in her hair moved down to the halter part of the dress, and with one swift movement he pulled the ties holding it together, exposing her to him. _

_It didn't take long before he was supporting her weight against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist, his pants somewhere behind him on the floor, removed without thought._

_When he finally pushed into her she let out a low moan that went straight south. Burying his face in her neck, he supported her weight as they moved together, slowly at first but with increasing intensity._

_She was moaning, panting against him and he pushed harder, faster, sending her over the edge while screaming his name which pushed him over as well._

_Gently he released her legs, but kept himself pressed against her as they each tried to catch their breaths._

_Maybe it was the high the day - from the seeing her in that dress and then kicking ass then taking her hard and fast on his living room wall (while in the dress) but to this day he didn't know why he'd said it._

_The words were just out before he could even think to filter them. "One day I'm gonna marry you."_

_It wasn't really a proposal, exactly. But given his failed attempt not that long before they'd both frozen a moment, unsure what to do or say._

_Then she had laughed, just a little bit and Steve lifted his head to see her smiling widely, a thin sheen of sweat covering her skin. She'd never looked more beautiful._

_Then she said, "Maybe. One day. If you get the proposal thing right."_

_A low groan of annoyance came from him and he buried his face in her shoulder again. "Can we pretend I didn't say that?" he mumbled and attempted to distract her by kissing the skin he found._

"_That's going to depend on the next thirty minutes," she said and he backed away, grabbing her hand and leading the way upstairs._

* * *

"That wasn't a _real _proposal, I was…" Steve struggled with the right word and watched an amused grin cover her face.

"Distracted? Horny?"

"Ok, ok. I get it."

Now a broad, dimpled smile graced her face and he returned it. "Love you," she whispered.

His nose nuzzled hers and he sighed. "Love you."

They were silent a moment, swaying together in the evening Hawaiian breeze.

"You look beautiful tonight by the way, Mrs. McGarrett." And she did, the dress she had chosen was perfectly her…airy, light and beautiful. It was a floor length, off-white with thin shoulder straps and a burgundy sash tied around the waist that fell to the bottom of the back of the dress.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Mr. McGarrett. You clean up well."

While planning the wedding she had agreed no tuxes, it wasn't in Steve's personality and she knew he would be miserable if forced to wear one. So instead he, Chin and Danny wore black slacks and burgundy (subtle) Hawaiian-print shirts that matched the sash on her dress. And in a nod to their first kiss on the beach at Chin's wedding, both had worn slippers, it was an inside joke understood by only the two of them.

He pulled her closer and swayed in time to the music that played behind them on the lanai of the same restaurant Chin'd had his reception at. At first Kono wasn't sure about doing it in the same place as her cousin, but there was a sense of…symmetry that she couldn't resist. Chin's wedding and reception were the catalysts that finally pushed their relationship over the edge.

"The third time was so much better…" she mumbled into his chest, where her head was now resting as they moved.

"That was pretty good…"

* * *

_December 2014_

_Kono woke slowly, stretching her limbs, satisfied when her back cracked and there was no pain in her ankle. Slowly she rotated her foot, pleased at the range of motion she was able to achieve despite the doctors warnings that it would probably not fully heal due to the damage. It had been over a year since her kidnapping and torture at Wo Fat's hands and in that time she had worked hard at physical therapy just to prove them wrong and prevent Fat from having any future impact on her life._

_Opening her eyes she was surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. Consulting the clock she realized it was 8 am already, so of course he was already up. Steve McGarrett was physically incapable of sleeping past 7. Despite the face they had worked late the night before and had nowhere to be until 2 that afternoon._

_Getting out of bed she stretched sore muscles again and wandered downstairs in search of Steve. Approaching the kitchen she was met with the sight of him standing over the stove, tossing vegetables into a pan and sautéing them. While Steve cooking breakfast was not unprecedented, it was still a rare occurrence._

_Moving to him, she stood silently a moment as he ladled eggs into the pan. Ah, omelets. _

"_What's this for?" she asked and snatched a piece of bacon off the counter._

"_You."_

_She eyed him warily…again, not unprecedented but rare and he was certainly in a mood already. "Ok…what time did you get up?"_

"_Six."_

Of course.

"_We went to bed at one." She stated and shook her head._

_He merely shrugged and returned to the stove. A few minutes later she was seated at the breakfast bar, meal and coffee in front of her, Steve next to her, food also on his plate._

_They ate in silence for a while until Steve commented, "I think I'll pull the Christmas decorations down from the attic today."_

_That surprised her, she had never, not one time, seen Steve decorate for Christmas, which was three weeks away._

_Kono swallowed some coffee and turned to him. "Not to dampen your holiday spirit but why this year? I've never seen this place decorated before."_

_For a moment Kono swore she saw him blush before he rushed out, "You haven't been here before."_

_Oh._

"_Oh…Steve, that's sweet. But if you don't want to…"_

"_I do." He turned to face her and put down his fork. "That's the thing. I actually want to celebrate because this year I have you. Here. And I know how much you love it."_

_She smiled gently at him. They had only moved in together at the beginning of the year, Kono had felt they needed a cooling off period after Fat before jumping into anything serious. It had taken all of six months after that and she'd sold her place (for a tidy profit) and moved in with him. Last year they hadn't celebrated much of anything, she was still thick in therapy and they just hadn't had time and with Rebecca it was just a little awkward. But now Steve's mom had moved into a smaller house down the street shortly after she had moved in (she'd insisted saying the place was far too big for her and was more suited to a family). This year they had already planned on having her and Mary, Danny, Grace, Malia and Chin over for Christmas Eve. Though Steve hadn't once mentioned decorating._

_She just nodded and kissed him._

"_But first," he announced with flourish. "A tree."_

"_A tree…"_

"_Tonight. After…" he let the rest hang, they both new what today held but neither would speak directly of it. As if speaking would change the outcome._

_She nodded and he leaned down, kissing her soundly before leaving for his shower._

_At exactly 1:30 they arrived at the courthouse and were met with the prosecutor and Chin and Danny. Kono felt butterflies in her stomach, she was so anxious she couldn't even eat her lunch, instead choosing to clean the house. Obsessively. _

_Then his fingers wrapped around hers and she calmed a little bit. This was it. _

_Sentencing day._

_It had taken far longer than it should have thanks to Wo Fat's attorney who had used every trick at his disposal to get the trial postponed until finally four months ago they'd sat through three weeks of testimony (most of it their own). And in the end Wo Fat and Ryan Kolcheck had been found guilty on every charge._

_While last night had been shocking dream-free for Kono, every night before for a week had been filled with nightmares of her time with the men. One night had been so bad Steve had considered making her go back to the shrink she had been forced by the governor to see for six months post abduction. That night he had woken to her sitting on the floor of their bedroom, knees pulled to her chest, tears running down her face. It had taken ten minutes to calm her and get her back in bed with him. In the morning she had been vague about the nature of the dream that had her so terrified and that when he considered contacting Dr. Hu, but decided against it, opting to give her a couple more days. Since then it had been all quiet and Steve had felt reassured that it was just the stress of today sneaking up on her._

_When they were called into the courtroom, Kono paused and looked at Steve and the steely resolve on his face gave her the boost she needed to face them for what they all hoped was the last time._

_So she took a deep breath and walked in with renewed confidence._

_The judge was quick and to the point. What the men had done was particularly heinous and showed a profound lack of decency and regard for human life. So he sentenced both of them to the maximum, a total of 60 years each, no parole. They would die in prison._

_Kono had squeezed Steve's hand even tighter as the sentence was laid out and the men were taken away. As the door closed behind them, Steve pulled her into a tight hug and buried his face in her hair, mumbling "It's over…it's really over"._

"_Are you sure?" she asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the tree farm. _

_Turning off the engine, he looked at her with this expression of excitement she couldn't ever remember seeing from him. "More than anything."_

_Kono leaned in and kissed him. "Then let's go." And promptly jumped out of the truck._

_Steve followed and, after talking to one of the men running the place, led them to the back of the two acre lot. _

_Kono continued to look for a tree, it had been a while since she had searched for a live one and she couldn't quite decide what exactly made one a "good" Christmas tree._

_As they approached a small clearing, Kono continued to look to the sides, speaking as she walked. "Steve, what are we looking for he-"_

_And she stopped, the words dying on her lips. _

Oh….

"_Steve," she whispered. _

_The small clearing, maybe ten feet around was lit with small white lights. Placed around the outside were strategically placed vases with lilies in them. The same kind he had sent her the previous year._

Oh…

_Slowly he approached her and she lifted her gaze from the flowers to him as he pulled her gently to the center of the space. When he smiled and bent down on one knee she sucked in a deep, nervous breath and clasped her hands behind her back, unsure what to do with them._

"_Kono Kalakaua, it's been a long, painful road, but the worst of it is finally behind us. And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"_

_Then he pulled a vintage-style ring from somewhere, it was beautiful with a canary yellow diamond raised in the center with small diamonds surrounding it._

_Her hands were shaking; heart pumping in her chest and all she felt was love for this wonderful, imperfect man in front of her. And she couldn't imagine not spending the rest of her life with him._

"_Yes…oh, yes."_

_Then he stood, put the (perfectly sized) ring on her finger and pulled her off the ground in a bear hug. _

* * *

He pulled her even tighter as they spun (somehow he had moved them to the dance floor). "That was the smartest thing I ever did."

"You know it," she said and lifted her head, smiling widely at him.

"Funny, Mrs. McGarrett."

As he spun her around a little more quickly she got a look at the guest who were still lingering around the lanai. The governor had made an appearance, staying through the meal before politely leaving. By now it was mostly family. Kono was surprised to see a heavily pregnant Malia still there. For a while her gaze lingered on her cousin's wife, she was due in two weeks and despite that had helped Kono plan the wedding and was still soldiering through.

Steve's gaze followed her's and he voiced what she was thinking. "I don't know how she is still on her feet."

"Me either."

"You know," he drew out and took a deep breath, he was about to step in it and he wasn't sure what her response would be. "People keep asking me when we are having kids."

She eyed him carefully. "What people?"

"My Mom, a couple of your cousins. I think having a 9 month pregnant woman here set something off."

A sigh escaped her. "We've literally been married two hours."

He shrugged. "Well, we probably should practice how they are made, just to be prepared. For…whenever."

She smirked. "Of course, to be prepared. You SEALs excel at _preparing_."

Leaning in he looked around before whispering, "Oh, we excel at a lot of things. Think anyone would notice if we ditched this place to _prepare_?"

A throaty laugh escaped her. "I think they might."

"Fine," he practically pouted.

"Later, babe."

"You're on."

Then he spun her quickly and she let out a peal of laughter which faded into the night.

THE END

* * *

So long for now, readers, I have an idea for a fic that's set in the current season even with them with Catherine/Adam. Not sure it will see the light of day though, because it has the potential of going hopeless OOC. If that doesn't happen I'll come up with something.


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